The choice between the mean and median as a summary of the percentage of white residents in the neighborhood depends on the distribution of the data.
Mean (Average): Use the mean when the data is roughly symmetric and not heavily skewed. It gives equal weight to all data points, so if the distribution is balanced, it can be a good summary.
Median (Middle Value): Use the median when the data is skewed or has outliers. It represents the middle value in the data set when arranged in order, so it's less affected by extreme values.
To determine which is a better summary, consider the shape of the histogram and the presence of outliers. If the data is symmetric and doesn't have extreme values, the mean can be a good summary. However, if the data is skewed or has outliers, the median is often a more robust summary because it's less influenced by these factors.
In cases where there's uncertainty, it can be helpful to provide both the mean and median to give a more complete picture of the data.