This note re-examines the C-Mean, a method for calculating averages for in
dividuals within units. According to Daniel Scott Smith, the statistic C (here called the C-Mean)
"has two important uses—in clarifying the definition of the subject under study, and in describing
units from the perspective of the people located in them." The note clarifies some ambiguities about
how to calculate the C-Means for grouped data and discusses some potential biases in the results.
Moreover, it raises questions about the interpretive value of the statistic and suggests that the C-
Mean should be used in conjunction with other descriptive statistics.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Blalock, Hubert M., Jr. 1979. Social Statistics. Rev. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.
2.
Lee, Jean Butenhoff.1986. "The Problem of Slave Community in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake." William and Mary Quarterly 3rd series, 43: 333-361.
3.
Smith, Daniel Scott.1979. "Averages for Units and Averages for Individuals within Units: A Note." Journal of Family History4: 84-86.
4.
Rossiter, W.S.1909. A Century of Population Growth. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
5.
Wetherell, Charles.1977. "A Note on Hierarchical Clustering." Historical Methods3: 109-116.
6.
—. 1981. "Slave Kinship: A Case Study of the South Carolina Good Hope Plantation, 1835-1856." Journal of Family History6: 294-308.
