Average

[ceperras]

Hi,

I have some diary data (Day1, Day2, Day3, Day4, Day5). If I am trying to calculate Average-Days and, for example, Day3 is missing...do I compute the average with or without Day3 included in the denominator?

Thanks!
C

[ceperras]

I don't think I was completely clear...say it is looking at Yawns per Day...so Day1=10, Day2=0, Day3=., Day4=5, Day5=12. And I'm trying to find Average Number of Yawns per Day.

Thanks!

[Statstastic]

The average is the sum of the observations divided by the number of observations. If one of the observations for the week is missing how many observations have you got?

[ceperras]

So, Day3 is left out of the mean computation completely? While all others have a denominator of 5, subject xx will have a denominator of 4, correct?

[Statstastic]

Yes, you leave day 3 out of the computation leaving you with just four values, 10, 0, 5 and 12.

I'm not sure why you're trying to divide each observation by a number as the average is caluculated from the sum of the observations (10+0+5+12) divided by the number of observations, 4 , giving 6.75