4 ms·

I don't mean to detract from the general value of this comment, but a nitpick... > Your chances to be better off than the median are very slim. Chances to be

I don't mean to detract from the general value of this comment, but a nitpick... > Your chances to be better off than the median are very slim. Chances to be better off than the median are exactly 50%.

tacotime 8y ago
As an illegal immigrant? That seems like it could be a considerable disadvantage.
everdev 8y ago
> Chances to be better off than the median are exactly 50%. No, if a sample size of monthly salaries is: $1k, $3k, $4k, $10k, $12k The median is $4k. Achieving better than that may indeed be a slim chance if it represents a level up in seniority. Your background and skills matter. Also, in this sample size, only 40% are above median. If you measure everyone salary to the dollar, it will approach 50% but never get there. In fact above median will always be < 50% by definition.
- gilbetron 8y ago
  $1k, $3k, $4k, $10k, median is $3.5k, with exactly 50% being above, and exactly 50% being below. The same happens with any sample with an even number.
  - sokoloff 8y ago
    $1K, $1K, $1K, $10K...
    - everdev 8y ago
      Which is what most national income distributions look like. With the vast majority making below or well below the median income. Hence the fuss about the 1% controlling so much wealth.
      - sokoloff 8y ago
        Well, my series above is a degenerate case. > With the vast majority making below or well below the median income. In any case, it's mathematically definitionally impossible for the vast majority of any population to be making less than the median of that population. (It is possible with respect to the average, of course.) (Even in the above (degenerate) case, there is no member of the series with less than the median value of $1K.)
lixtra 8y ago
https://www.ft.com/content/022de0a4-54f4-11e7-9fed-c19e2700005f https://www.ft.com/content/022de0a4-54f4-11e7-9fed-c19e27000... > Up to three quarters of Germany’s refugees will still be unemployed in five years’ time Conditional probabilities matter.
bspammer 8y ago
If you were selecting randomly from the population, yes. OP would have significant disadvantages that would make them likely to be below the median.
- rhn_mk1 8y ago
  I pointed it out because the post doesn't make it clear what the sentence means. "The median" is undefined, and to get the implied meaning, there's only one reference: the group of people including the OP. Obviously, it doesn't make sense in this context, but it's never clarified. Actually, your post also doesn't specify that: median of what group?

tacotime 8y ago

As an illegal immigrant? That seems like it could be a considerable disadvantage.

everdev 8y ago

> Chances to be better off than the median are exactly 50%. No, if a sample size of monthly salaries is: $1k, $3k, $4k, $10k, $12k The median is $4k. Achieving better than that may indeed be a slim chance if it represents a level up in seniority. Your background and skills matter. Also, in this sample size, only 40% are above median. If you measure everyone salary to the dollar, it will approach 50% but never get there. In fact above median will always be < 50% by definition.

gilbetron 8y ago
$1k, $3k, $4k, $10k, median is $3.5k, with exactly 50% being above, and exactly 50% being below. The same happens with any sample with an even number.
- sokoloff 8y ago
  $1K, $1K, $1K, $10K...
  - everdev 8y ago
    Which is what most national income distributions look like. With the vast majority making below or well below the median income. Hence the fuss about the 1% controlling so much wealth.
    - sokoloff 8y ago
      Well, my series above is a degenerate case. > With the vast majority making below or well below the median income. In any case, it's mathematically definitionally impossible for the vast majority of any population to be making less than the median of that population. (It is possible with respect to the average, of course.) (Even in the above (degenerate) case, there is no member of the series with less than the median value of $1K.)

lixtra 8y ago

https://www.ft.com/content/022de0a4-54f4-11e7-9fed-c19e2700005f https://www.ft.com/content/022de0a4-54f4-11e7-9fed-c19e27000... > Up to three quarters of Germany’s refugees will still be unemployed in five years’ time Conditional probabilities matter.

bspammer 8y ago

If you were selecting randomly from the population, yes. OP would have significant disadvantages that would make them likely to be below the median.

rhn_mk1 8y ago
I pointed it out because the post doesn't make it clear what the sentence means. "The median" is undefined, and to get the implied meaning, there's only one reference: the group of people including the OP. Obviously, it doesn't make sense in this context, but it's never clarified. Actually, your post also doesn't specify that: median of what group?