mean
n. the numerical average of a set of scores, computed as the sum of all scores divided by the number of scores. For example, suppose a health researcher sampled five individuals and found their numbers of hours of exercise per week to be 3, 1, 5, 4, and 7, respectively. The mean number of exercise hours per week thus would be (3 + 1 + 5 + 4 + 7)/5 = 20/5 = 4. The mean is the most widely used statistic for describing central tendency. Also called arithmetic mean; arithmetic average. See also geometric mean; harmonic mean.