NY Times Slips Up On Sexual Math

I quoted this article awhile back. But Slate's Jordan Ellenberg proves why the article's math doesn't necessarily add up.

"The problem is hiding in the distinction between the median (the number reported by the CDC study) and the mean (the number Gale was talking about). The mean is what people usually call the "average." To calculate the mean number of sexual partners among a group of men, you add together each man's sexual partners, then divide by the total number of men. The median, on the other hand, is the number you'd get if you line all the men up in order of their number of partners, then ask the man in the middle to state his count."

The New York Times Slips up on Sexual Math
by Jordan Ellenberg
http://www.slate.com/id/2172186/fr/flyout