Measures of Central

Tendency: Mode,
Median, and Mean

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Focus Points
• Discuss measures of central tendency

• Compute arithmetic mean

• Compute a weighted average.

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Measures of Central Tendency

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Central Tendency
The term ‘central tendency’ was coined because
observations (numerical values) in most data sets show a
distinct tendency to group or cluster around a value of an
observation located somewhere in the middle of all
observations.

It is necessary to identify or calculate this typical central

value (also called average) to describe the characteristic of
the entire data set.

This descriptive value is the measure of the central

tendency or location and methods of computing this central
value are called measures of central tendency.
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Objectives of Averaging
The objectives to calculate a central value or average of
the entire data set are given below:

(i) It is useful to extract and summarize the characteristics

of the entire data set in a precise form.

(ii) Since an ‘average’ represents the entire data set, it

facilitates comparison between two or more data sets.
Such comparison can be made either at a point of time or
over a period of time.

(iii) It offers a base for computing various other measures

such as dispersion, skewness, kurtosis that help in many
other phases of statistical analysis. 5
Requisite for central tendency
(i) It should be rigidly defined: The definition of an average
should be clear and rigid so that there must be uniformity in
its interpretation by different decision-makers.

(ii) It should be based on all the observations: To ensure

that it should represent the entire data set, its value should
be calculated by taking into consideration the entire data
set.

(iii) It should be easy to understand and calculate: The

value of an average should be computed by using a simple
method without reducing its accuracy and other
advantages.
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Requisite for central tendency
(iv) It should have sampling stability: The value of an
average calculated from various independent random
samples of the same size from a given population should
not vary much from another.

(v) It should be capable of further algebraic treatment: The

nature of the average should be such that it could be used
for statistical analysis of the data set.

(vi) It should not be unduly affected by extreme

observations: The value of an average should not be
unduly affected by very small or very large observations in
the given data.
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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

A measure of central tendency is a value that represents

a typical, or central, entry of a data set. The three most
commonly used measures of central tendency are the
mean, the median, and the mode.

An average that uses the exact value of each entry is the

mean (sometimes called the arithmetic mean).

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Central Tendency
TYPES OF AVERAGES
The following are the important types of averages:
1. Arithmetic mean
2. Geometric mean
3. Harmonic mean
4. Median
5. Mode

Arithmetic Mean (A.M)

The most popular and widely used measure of central
tendency is Arithmetic mean. There are two types of A.M.
(i) Simple Arithmetic mean (ii) Weighted Arithmetic mean
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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

To compute the mean, we add the values of all the entries

and then divide by the number of entries.

The mean is the average usually used to compute a test

average.

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Example – Mean
To graduate, Linda needs at least a B in biology. She did
not do very well on her first three tests; however, she did
well on the last four. Here are her scores:

58 67 60 84 93 98 100

Compute the mean and determine if Linda’s grade will be a

B (80 to 89 average) or a C (70 to 79 average).

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Example – Solution

Since the average is 80, Linda will get the needed B.

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

Comment:
When we compute the mean, we sum the given data.
There is a convenient notation to indicate the sum.

Let x represent any value in the data set. Then the notation

x (read “the sum of all given x values”)

means that we are to sum all the data values. In other

words, we are to sum all the entries in the distribution.

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

The summation symbol  means sum the following and is

capital sigma, the S of the Greek alphabet.

The symbol for the mean of a sample distribution of x

values is x (read “x bar”).

If your data comprise the entire population, we use the

symbol  (lowercase Greek letter mu, pronounced “mew”)
to represent the mean.

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

Procedure:

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

Finding a Sample Mean: The weights (in pounds) for a

sample of students before starting a weight-loss study are
listed. What is the mean weight of the students?
274, 235, 223, 268, 290, 285, 235

Solution: The sum of the weights is

x = 274 + 235 + 223 + 268 + 290 + 285 + 235 = 1810.
There are 7 students in the sample, so n = 7. To find the
mean weight, divide the sum of the weights by the number
of students in the sample.

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

Calculate Arithmetic mean of heights of 10 students in a

B.Com class.

Roll No.: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Height: 160 157 162 155 158 159 161 154 152 156
(cms)

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

Example: The daily earnings (in rupees) of employees

working on a daily basis in a firm are:

Daily earnings (Rs.): 100 120 140 160 180 200 220
No. of employees : 3 6 10 15 24 42 75

Calculate the average daily earning for all employees.

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

Example:
The human resource manager at a city hospital began a
study of the overtime hours of the registered nurses.
Fifteen nurses were selected at random, and following
overtime hours during a month were recorded:

13 13 12 15 7 15 5 12 6 7 12 10 9 13 12
5 9 6 10 5 6 9 6 9 12

Calculate the arithmetic mean of overtime hours during the

month.

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Measures of Central Tendency: Mean

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Mean of a Frequency Distribution

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Mean of a Frequency Distribution

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

Arithmetic mean of grouped data can also be calculated by

applying any of the following methods:
1. Direct method
2. Indirect or Step-deviation method

For calculating arithmetic mean for a grouped data set, the

following assumptions are made:
1. The class intervals must be closed.
2. The width of each class interval should be equal.
3. The values of the observations in each class interval
must be uniformly distributed between its
lower and upper limits.
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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

Example: In an examination of 675 candidates, the

examiner supplied the following information:

Calculate the mean percentage of marks obtained.

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

Calculations of Mean Percentage of Marks

Calculate the mean percentage of marks obtained.

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

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Arithmetic Mean of Grouped (or Classified) Data

Example: Calculate arithmetic mean from the data given

below :
Marks : 0 – 10 10 – 20 20 – 30 30 – 40 40 – 50
No. of Students : 7 6 15 12 10

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