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The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others.
The arithmetic mean (or simply mean or average) of a list of numbers, is the sum of all of the numbers divided by their count.Similarly, the mean of a sample ,, …,, usually denoted by ¯, is the sum of the sampled values divided by the number of items in the sample.
The result of this application of a weight function is a weighted sum or weighted average. Weight functions occur frequently in statistics and analysis, and are closely related to the concept of a measure. Weight functions can be employed in both discrete and continuous settings.
The arithmetic mean (sometimes called the "unweighted average" or "equally weighted average") can be interpreted as a special case of a weighted average in which all weights are equal to the same number (in the above example and in a situation with numbers being averaged).
The arithmetic mean, or less precisely the average, of a list of n numbers x 1, x 2, . . . , x n is the sum of the numbers divided by n: + + +. The geometric mean is similar, except that it is only defined for a list of nonnegative real numbers, and uses multiplication and a root in place of addition and division:
The weighted harmonic mean is the preferable method for averaging multiples, such as the price–earnings ratio (P/E). If these ratios are averaged using a weighted arithmetic mean, high data points are given greater weights than low data points. The weighted harmonic mean, on the other hand, correctly weights each data point. [14]
A power mean serves a non-linear moving average which is shifted towards small signal values for small p and emphasizes big signal values for big p. Given an efficient implementation of a moving arithmetic mean called smooth one can implement a moving power mean according to the following Haskell code.
The Marshall-Edgeworth index, credited to Marshall (1887) and Edgeworth (1925), [11] is a weighted relative of current period to base period sets of prices. This index uses the arithmetic average of the current and based period quantities for weighting. It is considered a pseudo-superlative formula and is symmetric. [12]