>>>>>What is the difference between mean and average?
>>>>
>>>>According to my dictionaries, there's no difference.
>>>>
>>>>Vlad
>>>In a distribution of 'n' measurements, the (arithmetic) mean or
>>>'average' is the sum of the measurements divided by 'n'. The 'median' is the middle measurements after the measurements are ordered by size
>>>if 'n' is odd, or the mean of the middle measurements if 'n' is
>>>even. Thus, for the measurements 70,72,72,76,78 and 81 the
>>>mean is 450/6 = 75, the median is (72+76)/2 = 74
>>>HTH
>>>good luck
>>
>>Thanks. I know there are a lot of methods to determine an average or mean. I never knew them all, but is always good to find out new things.
>>
>>I looked in some dictionaries (one for maths), and it seems there's no difference between "mean" and "average". But there are a lot of different means and averages. :)
>>
>>Vlad
>
>mean and average are the same thing (usually). mean and median are completely different... median means the item exactly in the middle (if 11 items, the 6th one in sequence is the median)

Average (not a very statistical term) usually refers to the 'arithmetic' mean, where you sum up some values and divide by the number of values. As you guys hint at, there are other kinds of means (geometric, harmonic, etc...)