hes@ecsvax.UUCP (Henry Schaffer) (10/03/86)
The quantity being measured can also affect the choice of the appropriate mean! E.g., are you measuring speed or time? (An old puzzle is relevant: After driving one mile at 30 mph, how fast do you have to drive the second mile in order to average 60 mph? The answer is *not* 90 mph - and the arithmetic average is *not* correct in this context. Hint: look at the harmonic mean.) I have seen benchmarks presented both ways - both in time (e.g. seconds) and in speed (executions/second). Additionally, several people have correctly pointed out that the benchmark elements should be weighted to reflect the frequency of occurance of that type of work in *your* job stream. This is a very important point which probably surpasses the importance of the harmonic/arithmetic/geometric mean differences. --henry schaffer n c state univ