The ‘average’ revolutionized scientific research, but overreliance on it has led to discrimination and harm

When analyzing a set of data, one of the first steps many people take is to calculate an average. You can compare your height to the average height of the people where you live, or brag about the batting average of your favorite baseball player. But while the average can help you study a data set, it has important limitations.

Using the average that ignores these limitations has led to serious problems such as discrimination, injury and even life-threatening accidents.

For example, the US Air Force designed its aircraft for 'the average man', but abandoned this practice when pilots could ...