Averages serve as useful tools for summarizing data and making comparisons. However, they come with limitations. While averages provide a quick snapshot, they shouldn’t be the sole metric for decision-making. Exploring full data distributions reveals the complete scenario. There limitations are:
- Averages don’t reveal how data is distributed among individuals.
- Extreme values (high or low) disproportionately impact averages.
For example, high per capita income of a state can be due to a few rich people while the majority of population can be deprived and poor. Therefore, an average value cannot always give an exact picture of the situation.