In statistics, an outlier is an observation that is numerically distant from the rest of the data. (Wikipedia)
When you get a set of data; there is a possibility that some part of it will have a large deviation from the mean (average), these observations or data is known as Outliers. Like a couple of IIM’s grads getting multi crore offers from Investment Bankers (not anymore, most IIM grads will now apply to SBI and Bank of Baroda, I guess) while the average salary of a fresh IIM grad is around 15 lakhs per annum. I am sure you get the picture now and will be able to identify the outlier in the graph on the left.
Outliers are usually ignored in a stats analysis as it is generally considered to be an error in observation or the knowledge that the mean can get much skewed because of these outliers (sometimes it is preferred; as in the IIM case, the media hypes the mean salary so much, just by including these couple of outliers). Even if it gets ignored for various reasons, an outlier nevertheless gets utmost attention (like the lone spot in the graph grabs our eyeball) and investigation.
Outliers is also the title of new book (Nov 2008) by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell has written 2 blockbusters before – the tipping point (2000) and the blink (2005), both the books sold over 2 million copies (compare that to Tamil writers who sell about 5000, i guess and mostly to libraries, thankfully the trend is getting better). Gladwell also commands more than 40000USD for any appearance (according to The New York Times). Outliers debuted as the number 1 seller on New York Times and has remained there for 18 weeks (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/bestseller/besthardnonfiction.html). That is big. Gladwell is the current blue-eyed boy of many corporates and he gives speeches at all the top corporations (like Google, Microsoft, etc). You can catch a sample of Gladwell’s skills at Ted.com - BTW, if you have not added Ted.com to your favorites than you are missing out on something and should add immediately. (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html)
“Outliers” has a simple (intuitive for most of us) message; that success is not an individual’s show and there is no short cut to success (writing a book like this is an exception!).
When you get a set of data; there is a possibility that some part of it will have a large deviation from the mean (average), these observations or data is known as Outliers. Like a couple of IIM’s grads getting multi crore offers from Investment Bankers (not anymore, most IIM grads will now apply to SBI and Bank of Baroda, I guess) while the average salary of a fresh IIM grad is around 15 lakhs per annum. I am sure you get the picture now and will be able to identify the outlier in the graph on the left.
Outliers are usually ignored in a stats analysis as it is generally considered to be an error in observation or the knowledge that the mean can get much skewed because of these outliers (sometimes it is preferred; as in the IIM case, the media hypes the mean salary so much, just by including these couple of outliers). Even if it gets ignored for various reasons, an outlier nevertheless gets utmost attention (like the lone spot in the graph grabs our eyeball) and investigation.
Outliers is also the title of new book (Nov 2008) by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell has written 2 blockbusters before – the tipping point (2000) and the blink (2005), both the books sold over 2 million copies (compare that to Tamil writers who sell about 5000, i guess and mostly to libraries, thankfully the trend is getting better). Gladwell also commands more than 40000USD for any appearance (according to The New York Times). Outliers debuted as the number 1 seller on New York Times and has remained there for 18 weeks (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/bestseller/besthardnonfiction.html). That is big. Gladwell is the current blue-eyed boy of many corporates and he gives speeches at all the top corporations (like Google, Microsoft, etc). You can catch a sample of Gladwell’s skills at Ted.com - BTW, if you have not added Ted.com to your favorites than you are missing out on something and should add immediately. (http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html)
“Outliers” has a simple (intuitive for most of us) message; that success is not an individual’s show and there is no short cut to success (writing a book like this is an exception!).
... To Be Continued
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