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Averages or Variation? Much of the shock-horror statistical information used by the media is based on statistical averages. Despite the often misleading preoccupation with averages, the most important statistical concept neglected by journalists and news reporters is variation. This concept is essential to modern mathematical statistics and plays a pivotal role in biological, medical, educational and industrial statistics. So why is variation important? summarising this information into one exemplar. ,.. "' 4
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Variation can be quite easily seen in multicultural Britain, and especially London, which now consists of more than 300 sub-cultures with as many languages spoken (from Acholi to Zulu) and thirteen different faiths. For some, multiculturalism is about valuing everybody and not making everyone the same (or not reducing this ethnically diverse group of individuals to one representative person). There are so many individual differences across the British population that it is now practically meaningless to talk about the 'average' British person, as one might have done before 1950. These multifarious individual differences embody the statistical variation that is the crux of modern mathematical statistics. 5

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Averages or Variation? Much of the shock-horror statistical information used by the media is based on statistical averages. Despite the often misleading preoccupation with averages, the most important statistical concept neglected by journalists and news reporters is variation. This concept is essential to modern mathematical statistics and plays a pivotal role in biological, medical, educational and industrial statistics.

So why is variation important?

summarising this information into one exemplar. ,.. "'

4

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