Measures of Central Tendency

REQUIREMENTS
IN
BASIC
STATISTICS
SUBMITTED TO:
MAAM SHIRLEY BAYONETA
SUBMITTED BY:
DELA CRUZ, ERWIN R.
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
In statistics, a central tendency (or measure of central tendency) is a central or

typical value for a probability distribution. It may also be called
a center or location of the distribution. Colloquially, measures of central
tendency are often called averages. The term central tendency dates from the
late 1920s.
The most common measures of central tendency are the arithmetic mean,
the median and the mode. A central tendency can be calculated for either a
finite set of values or for a theoretical distribution, such as the normal distribution.
Occasionally authors use central tendency to denote "the tendency of
quantitative data to cluster around some central value."
The central tendency of a distribution is typically contrasted with
its dispersion or variability; dispersion and central tendency are the often
characterized properties of distributions. Analysts may judge whether data has a
strong or a weak central tendency based on its dispersion.
Mean
The statistical mean refers to the mean or average that is used to derive the
central tendency of the data in question. It is determined by adding all the data
points in a population and then dividing the total by the number of points. The
resulting number is known as the mean or the average.
The Mean is the sum of all of the data points divided by the number of data
points.
mean=sum of data# of data points
Median
Median is the middle number in a sorted list of numbers. To determine the
median value in a sequence of numbers, the numbers must first be arranged in
value order from lowest to highest. If there is an odd amount of numbers, the
median value is the number that is in the middle, with the same amount of
numbers below and above. If there is an even amount of numbers in the list, the
middle pair must be determined, added together and divided by two to find
the median value. The median can be used to determine an approximate
average, or mean. The median is sometimes used as opposed to the mean
when there are outliers in the sequence that might skew the average of the
values. The median of a sequence can be less affected by outliers than the
mean.
To find the median value in a list with an odd amount of numbers, one would
find the number that is in the middle with an equal amount of numbers on either
side of the median. To find the median, first arrange the numbers in order from
lowest to highest:
List: 3, 13, 2, 34, 11, 26, 47
Arranged in order, the list becomes: 2, 3, 11, 13, 26, 34, 47
The median is the number in the middle: 2, 3, 11, 13, 26, 34, 47
13 is the median in the list of numbers since there are 3 numbers on either side.
To find the median value in a list with an even amount of numbers, first arrange
the numbers in order from lowest to highest:
List: 3, 13, 2, 34, 11, 26, 47, 17
Arranged in order, the list becomes: 2, 3, 11, 13, 17, 26, 34, 47
The median is the average of the two numbers in the middle: 2, 3, 11, 13, 17, 26,
34, 47
13 + 17 = 30 30/ 2 = 15. Fifteen is the median value in this list of numb
Mode
The mode is a statistical term that refers to the most frequently occurring number
found in a set of numbers. The mode is found by collecting and organizing data
in order to count the frequency of each result. The result with the highest
number of occurrences is the mode of the set.
Other popular measures of central tendency include the mean, or the average
of a set; and the median, or the middle value in a set.
Mean Example Problems
Example 1
Find the mean of the set of numbers below
Solution
The first step is to count how many numbers there are in the set, which we shall
call n
The next step is to add up all the numbers in the set
The last step is to find the actual mean by dividing the sum by n
Mean can also be found for grouped data, but before we see an example on
that, let us first define frequency.
Frequency in statistics means the same as in everyday use of the word. The
frequency an element in a set refers to how many of that element there are in
the set. The frequency can be from 0 to as many as possible. If you're told that
the frequency an element a is 3, that means that there are 3 as in the set.
Example 2 Find the mean of the set of ages in the table below
Age (years) Frequency
10 0
11 8
12 3
13 2
14 7
Solution
The first step is to find the total number of ages, which we shall call n. Since it will
be tedious to count all the ages, we can find n by adding up the frequencies:
Next we need to find the sum of all the ages. We can do this in two ways: we
can add up each individual age, which will be a long and tedious process; or
we can use the frequency to make things faster.
Since we know that the frequency represents how many of that particular age
there are, we can just multiply each age by its frequency, and then add up all
these products.
The last step is to find the mean by dividing the sum by n
Median Example Problems
Find the median in the set of numbers given below
Solution
From the definition of median, we should be able to tell that the first step is to
rearrange the given set of numbers in order of increasing magnitude, i.e. from
the lowest to the highest
Then we inspect the set to find that number which lies in the exact middle.
Lets try another example to emphasize something interesting that often occurs
when solving for the median.
Example 4
Find the median of the given data
Solution
As in the previous example, we start off by rearranging the data in order from
the smallest to the largest.
Next we inspect the data to find the number that lies in the exact middle.
We can see from the above that we end up with two numbers (4 and 5) in the
middle. We can solve for the median by finding the mean of these two numbers
as follows:
MODE EXAMPLE PROBLEMS
Example 5
Find the Mode of the following data set.
Solution
Mode = 3 and 15
Mode for Grouped Data

As we saw in the section on data, grouped data is divided into classes. We have
defined mode as the element which has the highest frequency in a given data
set. In grouped data, we can find two kinds of mode: the Modal Class, or class
with the highest frequency and the mode itself, which we calculate from the
modal class using the formula below.
where
 L is the lower class limit of the modal class

 f1 is the frequency of the modal class
 f0 is the frequency of the class before the modal class in the
frequency table
 f2 is the frequency of the class after the modal class in the
frequency table
 h is the class interval of the modal class
Example 6
Find the modal class and the actual mode of the data set below
Number Frequency
1-3 7
4-6 6
7-9 4
10 - 12 2
13 - 15 2
16 - 18 8
19 - 21 1
22 - 24 2
25 - 27 3
28 - 30 2
Solution
Modal class = 10 - 12
where
 L = 10
 f1 = 9
 f0 = 4
 f2 = 2
 h=3
therefore,
Solving the above using the order of operations:
Range
The range is defined as the difference between the highest and lowest number
in a given data set.
Example 7
Find the range of the data set below
Solution
ANOTHER EXAMPLES:
Find the mean of the following numbers:

2, 4, 9, 5, 7
First add the numbers together: 2 + 4 + 9 + 5 + 7 = 27
Then, because there are 5 numbers, divide the sum by 5: 27/5 = 5.4
Let's try another problem that more closely follows our grading example above.
Say you have received the following grades on the last 6 math exams:
92, 84, 90, 78, 94, 88
What is my average test score, rounded to the nearest tenth?
Add all the scores together
92 + 84 + 90 + 78 + 94 + 88 = 526
Divide that number by 6, because there are six test scores, and round to the
nearest tenth:
526/6 = 87.7
87.7 is my average test score.
Find the median of the following numbers:
Example 1: The Jameson family drove through 7 states on their summer

vacation. Gasoline prices varied from state to state. What is the median
gasoline price?
$1.79, $1.61, $1.96, $2.09, $1.84, $1,75, $2.11
Solution: Ordering the data from least to greatest, we get:
$1.61, $1.75, $1.79, $1.84, $1.96, $2.09, $2.11
Answer: The median gasoline price is $1.84. (There were 3 states with higher
gasoline prices and 3 with lower prices.)
Example 2: During the first marking period, Nicole's math quiz scores were 90, 92,
93, 88, 95, 88, 97, 87, and 98. What was the median quiz score?
Solution: Ordering the data from least to greatest, we get:
87, 88, 88, 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 98
Answer: The median quiz score was 92. (Four quiz scores were higher than 92
and four were lower.)
Mode
Example 1
What is the mode of this group of numbers?

2, 2, 4, 6, 3, 4, 2, 5, 8
Since there are three 2s, 2 is the mode of this set.
A group of numbers can have more than one mode, or there can be none at
all. Look at a couple of other examples.
Example 2
Find the mode:

5, 6, 2, 5, 8, 7, 4, 9, 1, 4
This set of numbers has 2 modes, 4 and 5; these numbers both occur twice, while
all the other numbers occur only once.
Example 3
Find the mode:

7, 3, 8, 11, 5, 19, 4, 10
This group does not have a mode, because all the numbers occur only once

Measures of Central Tendency

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Measures of Central Tendency

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Measures of Central Tendency

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

REQUIREMENTS

In statistics, a central tendency (or measure of central tendency) is a central or

The next step is to add up all the numbers in the set

Age (years) Frequency

The last step is to find the mean by dividing the sum by n

Median Example Problems

Find the median in the set of numbers given below

Find the median of the given data

Find the Mode of the following data set.

Mode for Grouped Data

 L is the lower class limit of the modal class

Find the range of the data set below

Find the mean of the following numbers:

Find the median of the following numbers:

Example 1: The Jameson family drove through 7 states on their summer

$1.79, $1.61, $1.96, $2.09, $1.84, $1,75, $2.11

Solution: Ordering the data from least to greatest, we get:

$1.61, $1.75, $1.79, $1.84, $1.96, $2.09, $2.11

87, 88, 88, 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 98

What is the mode of this group of numbers?

Find the mode:

Find the mode:

You might also like