The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-03-23
THE NEXT CENSUS.

Captain Brady, the Washington cor
respondent of the Chronicle, writes
concerning the census:
The twelfth census and the discus.
sious that will follow its results seem
destined to bring into general use q
hitherto technical word, "median. 9
If adopted for common use it will adj
vantageously replace in many cases
the word average and in many
others the word centre for the pur-
poses from which they are usually
employed. The idea sought to be
conveyed by most people when they
use the word average" and which is
conveyed to them when used by others
! is better and more accurately express
ed by median. So, too, it is with the
use of the word centre in many in
stances, median expressing the precise
idea and centre, as is frequently the
case with the word average only APP
proximating to the idea sought to be
conveyed. There is something of the
difference between the meanings of
these words that there is between the
words plurality and majority, :"
which are necessary in the intelligent
discussion of election returns.
" For example: the average age of
the population of the United States is
twenty-five years; the median age
twenty one years. By median age is
meant that point at which there are
as many people above as below. The
S0-year old person has no more infiu-
ence in pulling up the median age of
his community than 40-year old per-
son so long as both are above the
average, that is in this case twenty-fiv
years. The octogenarian would, how
ever, nave a considerable influence on
the average of community, as will
such average is obtained as follows
If there are 157 persons one year old,
lib two years old, 80 three years old,
and so ON, the 157 would be multiplied
by one, the 113 by two, the 50 by three,
and so on as far as the ages go, and
then the grand total would be divided
by the whole number of persons The
quotient would be the average age,
being the number of years of life en-
joyed by the average person. For
use the median age is just
as valuable for most purposes as the
average age, and the establishment of
the distinction between average age
and median age is important as num-
berless errors arise from confusion of
the two, just as errors would arise
from confounding plurality and ma
jority in discussing election returns.
'There is the same difference be-
tween the centre of population and
median point of population that there
is between average age and median
age. 1t is surprise to most of us to
learn that the centre of population of
the United States is not the point at
which there are just as many people !
south of it as north, as many east as
west. That point is not the centre of
population. 1t is the median point of |
population. At the eleventh census,
1890, the centre of population was
twenty miles east of Columbus, Ind,
while the median point of population
was about seventy miles to the north
east, in Darke County, Ohio, near the
western border of that State. The
reason the centre of population gray
tates west of the median point of
population is that the Pacific coast
population is on the long arm of the
lever and influences results as the
does the average age.
Counting the Philippines our cen
tire of population would take a big
jump to the westward.