Do averages always work to advantage?

Question

Do averages always work to advantage?

Answer 1

No.  Sometimes they don't.

Answer 2

No. If you are in a trend of improving data (financial, crime rate, test score, etc.), you want to report your most recent results instead of your average.

Answer 3

no. from a structural point of view, we are always looking for the maximum stress.  

Answer 4

No.  If you're talking high test score, vs average of test scores, you're average is always going to be lower than you're highest score (unless you scored exactly the same on each test).

In other situations, you might want a lower number (average of murders over a 10 year span for example).  The city or state wouldn't want to put out the highest year, the average would sound better if the murder rate is decreasing.