Date:         Tue, 19 May 1998 13:31:40 -0400
Reply-To:     "Bassett Consulting Services, Inc."
              <BASSETT.CONSULTING/0002395748@MCIMAIL.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Bassett Consulting Services, Inc."
              <BASSETT.CONSULTING/0002395748@MCIMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: geometric mean

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CONTENT:      re:  geometric mean
NAME:         Michael L. Davis
INTERNET:     Bassett.Consulting@worldnet.att.net
AFFILIATION:  Bassett Consulting Services, Inc.
P-ADDR:       10 Pleasant Drive, North Haven, CT  06473
PHONE:        (203) 562-0640
FAX:          (203) 498-1414
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I found Amy Savage's question and Lary Jones's reply about the
geometric mean interesting because I had been told that the
geometric mean was synonymous with the median.  A quick call
to SI Tech Support and examination of the SI sample code to
compute the geometric mean quickly indicated the error of my
understanding.  I am glad that I read SAS-L regularly to help
identify where some of my previous learning may be in error.
 
Neverless, if the goal of using the geometric mean is to
minimize the skew effect when analyzing small, asymetrical
samples, then it appears that one might consider using the
median instead of the geometric mean as a tool to estimate
the center of the population distribution.  Both computations
minimize the effects of extreme values
 
One advantage of using the median is that it is more easily
grasped by mathematically challenged (such as myself).  Also
the median computation can be easily obtained from a base SAS
procedure such as PROC UNIVARIATE or PROC CORR.
 
Now all we need is a spirited discussion of which PCTLDEF=
option to use <grin>.