Mean of data points or mean of peak

[marcusesses]

I have (what may be) a simple statistics question...

Say I perform an experiment, and I make a number measurements over a given interval (e.g t=0s to t = 10s, every 1s), and I perform this experiment many times.

Now, let's say I make a plot of data vs. time, and I want to find when the data peaks in time on average.

Which measurement of the peak time would provide more accuracy: if I take the average of the individual data points over the number of runs I did and and then determine the peak time, or if I determine the peak time within a given run and then find the average peak for all the data runs?

If anyone can nudge me in the right direction, it would be appreciated.

Thanks.

EDIT: I just read the sticky in this section...This isn't a homework question, I'm just wondering which would work better, but if it's more suited for the homework section, by all means move it there.

 

[Valkarie]

The answer to this question depends on the nature of the data you are measuring. If the data is highly variable across runs, then taking the average peak time from within each run would likely be more accurate. If the data is relatively consistent across runs, then taking the average of the individual data points over all runs would likely be more accurate. The best way to determine which method works better for your particular situation is to try both approaches and see which one yields more accurate results.