Average Age on PF: What's the Answer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Char. Limit
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The discussion centers around a poll aimed at determining the average age of users on Physics Forums (PF). Participants share their ages and engage in light-hearted banter about aging, with some humorously claiming to be "older than dirt." The conversation touches on the demographics of the forum, noting a bimodal age distribution, with younger users seeking help and older users participating due to their experience. The lack of participation from those aged 35-44 is attributed to career and family commitments, suggesting that this age group may have less time for online engagement. Participants express curiosity about statistical analysis of the poll results, discussing mean and median ages, and consider the implications of their findings. The thread also features playful interactions and jokes, reflecting a friendly community atmosphere.

How old are you?

  • Total voters
    110
  • #91
Me to, but I can't resist anymore...

Must... analyse... information...
 
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  • #92
Char. Limit said:
You must have missed something.

Yes, nice graph. But only statistical invariants will satisfy me :biggrin:
 
  • #93
micromass said:
Yes, nice graph. But only statistical invariants will satisfy me :biggrin:

But I can't plot the mean of a bimodal distribution! I barely managed to find one.
 
  • #94
micromass said:
Yes, nice graph. But only statistical invariants will satisfy me :biggrin:

We're awaiting your paper on the distribution.
 
  • #95
Char. Limit said:
But I can't plot the mean of a bimodal distribution! I barely managed to find one.

Waaah. Where is statdad when you need him :cry:
Kinda curious on how you found that pdf by the way...
 
  • #96
Char. Limit said:
But I can't plot the mean of a bimodal distribution! I barely managed to find one.

That's why MM is a science advisor and homework helper! *jazz hands*
 
  • #97
micromass said:
Waaah. Where is statdad when you need him :cry:
Kinda curious on how you found that pdf by the way...

I took the gaussian of the first four categories, then the gaussian of the last five categories, divided both by 2 and then added them together! Sure, it's hardly rigorous, but I haven't taken even the most basic of statistics courses.
 
  • #98
I also want representation for my age group.
 
  • #99
FtlIsAwesome said:
I also want representation for my age group.

No. We're not even going to consider it until you pay us your chat fees.
 
  • #100
Its always about money, huh...
 
  • #101
FtlIsAwesome said:
Its always about money, huh...

I suppose you could try sexual favors for the mentors, but I'd guess that wouldn't go over well. :biggrin:
 
  • #102
Nevermind...
 
  • #103
Char. Limit said:
I took the gaussian of the first four categories, then the gaussian of the last five categories, divided both by 2 and then added them together! Sure, it's hardly rigorous, but I haven't taken even the most basic of statistics courses.

Results would probably be better if we had a finer discretization of the age ranges.
 
  • #104
jhae2.718 said:
Results would probably be better if we had a finer discretization of the age ranges.

I suppose I could create a separate poll for each category, where you list your exact age. If the mentors don't ban me for flooding the GD forum.
 
  • #105
It's probably not necessary, though; it's not like we're trying to get our results into a journal or anything...
 
  • #106
jhae2.718 said:
It's probably not necessary, though; it's not like we're trying to get our results into a journal or anything...

Says you. I like my distributions to be as accurate as possible, thank you very much.

I just want to ask any mentor who sees this, would you ban me for creating 8 different polls, one for each age group, at once?
 
  • #107
PF needs a journal...

You know, what does it say about us that we're spending Saturday evening doing analysis over a poll on an internet forum? :biggrin:
 
  • #108
Char. Limit said:
I like my distributions to be as accurate as possible, thank you very much.
Seconded. I like to be accurate with a lot of things.
 
  • #109
Allright, here are the results:

Arithmetic mean: 34.03
Geometric mean: 29.31
Harmonic mean: 25.45
Modus: 21
Median: 30

Variance: 278.91
Standard Deviation: 16.7

Kurtosis: -0.55
Skewness: 0.54

Enjoy!
 
  • #110
How are you assuming ages are distributed within the discrete groupings?
 
  • #112
jhae2.718 said:
How are you assuming ages are distributed within the discrete groupings?

I think it's standard to take the midpoints of ranges. I should reread in my stat book on how to deal with this situation...

I really want a PF journal! Imagine the breakthroughs we could publish :-p
 
  • #113
micromass said:
I really want a PF journal! Imagine the breakthroughs we could publish :-p

Why 1 != 0.999...
Division by zero: a new indeterminate form and valid arithmetic operation in R
 
  • #114
Poll 2, for 35-54:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=484647
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #115
jhae2.718 said:
Why 1 != 0.999...
Division by zero: a new indeterminate form and valid arithmetic operation in R

Don't forget "Irrational numbers don't exist" and the various (dis)proofs for FLT and Riemann Hypothesis...
And maybe a humor section with most funny insults like "smug and condescending cheapo"...
 
  • #116
Aaaaand Poll 3, for 55 and up!

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=484649

Now to wait a bit for results to come in.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #117
I actually want multivariate polls where you can see the correlation between age, gender, scientific interest, music taste, political preference and general happiness...

But I doubt PF will let me do that :cry:
 
  • #118
Char. Limit said:
I made a crude graph of the bimodal distribution we have here. I checked, and the integral over R of this function IS 1, so it's a proper pdf. And I think it's pretty interesting.

wolframalpha-20110326190842211.gif

Nice job Char,

I have a reasonable explanation for the drop in membership or the lack of reporting for the mid 30 somethings to the mid 40 somethings, I know because I have been there and have the T-Shirt to prove it. People in this range are:

A: busy with building their careers and/or
B: raising a family which requires attention not conducive to being a good PF contributor
C: more free time = more PF time at a young age and once children are raised and out of the house

Rhody... :wink:
 
  • #119
micromass said:
And maybe a humor section with most funny insults like "smug and condescending cheapo"...
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=475840
It got locked right away. :smile:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #120
So, who should be on the editorial board of the PF journal?
 

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