Editing Average (section)

== Averages as a rhetorical tool ==
Due to the aforementioned colloquial nature of the term "average", the term can be used to obfuscate the true meaning of data and suggest varying answers to  questions based on the averaging method (most frequently arithmetic mean, median, or mode) used. In his article "Framed for Lying: Statistics as In/Artistic Proof", [[University of Pittsburgh]] faculty member Daniel Libertz comments that statistical information is frequently dismissed from rhetorical arguments for this reason.<ref name="Libertz 2018">{{Cite journal |last=Libertz |first=Daniel |date=2018-12-31 |title=Framed for Lying: Statistics as In/Artistic Proof |url=https://resrhetorica.com/index.php/RR/article/view/289 |journal=Res Rhetorica |volume=5 |issue=4 |doi=10.29107/rr2018.4.1 |issn=2392-3113 |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, due to their persuasive power, averages and other statistical values should not be discarded completely, but instead used and interpreted with caution. Libertz invites us to engage critically not only with statistical information such as averages, but also with the language used to describe the data and its uses, saying: "If statistics rely on interpretation, rhetors should invite their audience to interpret rather than insist on an interpretation."<ref name="Libertz 2018" /> In many cases, data and specific calculations are provided to help facilitate this audience-based interpretation.