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	<title>8020world Management Consulting &#187; Average</title>
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	<description>Game Theory &#124; Wargaming &#124; Strategy &#124; Modeling &#124; System Dynamics</description>
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		<title>Harmonic Averages</title>
		<link>http://8020world.com/2008/07/harmonic-averages/</link>
		<comments>http://8020world.com/2008/07/harmonic-averages/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:16:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Juan-Carlos Méndez García</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Automotive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Data analysis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Excel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Average]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fuel Consumption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harmonic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Math]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MPG]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://jcandkimmita.info/jc/2008/07/uncategorized/harmonic-averages/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a short note to talk about Harmonic Averages. Most people are familiar with Weighted Averages, as they are a valuable tool for aggregation. For instance, with the data below, the average profitability (~1735) can be easily calculated using &#8230; <a href="http://8020world.com/2008/07/harmonic-averages/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is a short note to talk about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_mean">Harmonic Averages</a>.  Most people are familiar with Weighted Averages, as they are a valuable tool for aggregation.  For instance, with the data below, the average profitability (~1735) can be easily calculated using weighted averages.</p>
<p><img src="http://jcandkimmita.info/jc/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/table.png" width="302" height="101" /></p>
<p>Avg_Profit = (1000*1200 + 200*300 + 500*2500 + 10*600 + 100*300) / (1000 + 200 + 500 + 10 + 100)</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>Avg_Profit = SUMPRODUCT(UnitsSold,ProfitPerUnit)/SUM(UnitsSold)</p>
<p>I&#8217;m using Excel notation, and assuming it is clear from the context that UnitsSold is a range that covers the second column, for all models, etc.</p>
<p>A less known way of averaging are Harmonic Averages.  It is relevant when the data to aggregate is actually a ratio whose denominator is proportional to the weighting factor.  A typical case is miles per gallon (MPG) for a bunch of vehicles.  Gas consumption is directly proportional to the number of units.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s add some MPG data to the table above.</p>
<p><img src="http://jcandkimmita.info/jc/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/table2.png" width="341" height="129" /></p>
<p>Using Weighted Averages for an inverse ratio like MPG is plain wrong (24.3 MPG is NOT the average fuel economy)</p>
<p>The right thing is to use Harmonic Average:</p>
<p>Harm_Avg_MPG = (1000 + 200 + 500 + 10 + 100) / (1000/22.5 + 200/15.0 + 500/32.0 + 10/12.0 + 100/24.0)</p>
<p>As Excel doesn&#8217;t have a similar function to SUMPRODUCT for adding 1000/22.5, 200/15.0, etc.  I will not use Excel notation, but plain math notation:</p>
<p><img src="http://jcandkimmita.info/jc/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/formulaha1.png" /><br />UPDATED formula</p>
<p>If you have to deal with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_mean">Harmonic Averages</a>, you may find interesting this note on how to do PivotTable Multidimensional Analysis with Harmonic Averages.  There&#8217;s a similar one for Weighted Averages as well.</p>
<p>Let me know what you think.</p>
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