Content

 Measures of Central Tendency and their merits and demerits

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 Measures of Central Tendency
This central value is called a measure of central tendency or an average or a
measure of locations.

There are five averages: Mean

Harmonic
Median
Mean
Measures
of Central
Tendency

Geometric
Mode
Mean

Mean, median and mode are called simple averages and the other two averages
geometric mean and harmonic mean are called special averages.

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 Measures of Central Tendency Cont…
The meaning of average is nicely given in the following definitions.

• A measure of central tendency is a typical value around which

other figures congregate.

• An average stands for the whole group of which it forms a part

yet represents the whole.

• One of the most widely used set of summary figures is known as

measures of location.

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 Measures of Central Tendency Cont…

 Characteristics for a good or an ideal average :

The following properties should possess for an ideal average:

1. It should be rigidly defined.
2. It should be easy to understand and compute.
3. It should be based on all items in the data.
4. Its definition shall be in the form of a mathematical formula.
5. It should be capable of further algebraic treatment.
6. It should have sampling stability.
7. It should be capable of being used in further statistical
computations or processing.

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1. Arithmetic mean or mean :
Arithmetic mean or simply the mean of a variable is defined
as the sum of the observations divided by the number of
observations.
For Ungrouped or Raw Data
If the variable x assumes n values x1, x2 … xn then the
mean, x, is given by :

 Short-Cut method :
Under this method an assumed or an arbitrary average
(indicated by A) is used as the basis of calculation of deviations
from individual values.
The formula is :
where, A = the assumed mean or any value in x.
d = the deviation of each value from the
assumed mean.

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1. Arithmetic mean or mean Cont…

Grouped Data :
The mean for grouped data is obtained from the following formula:

Where, x = the mid-point of individual class

f = the frequency of individual class
N = the sum of the frequencies or total frequencies.
 Short-Cut method :

Where,

A = any value in x
N = total frequency
c = width of the class interval

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1. Arithmetic mean or mean Cont…
 Direct Method for Grouped Data
Formula is :

 Short-cut Method for Grouped Data

Formula is :

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 1. Arithmetic mean or mean Cont…
 Merits and demerits of Arithmetic mean :

Merits Demerits
It is rigidly defined. It cannot be obtained by inspection nor located through a
frequency graph.
It is easy to understand and easy to It cannot be in the study of qualitative phenomena not
calculate. capable of numerical measurement i.e. Intelligence,
beauty, honesty etc.,
If the number of items is sufficiently It can ignore any single item only at the risk of losing its
large, it is more accurate and more accuracy.
reliable.
It is a calculated value and is not based on It is affected very much by extreme values.
its position in the series.

It is possible to calculate even if some of It cannot be calculated for open-end classes.

the details of the data are lacking.

Of all averages, it is affected least by It may lead to fallacious conclusions, if the details of the
fluctuations of sampling. data from which it is computed are not given.

It provides a good basis for comparison. 9

 Weighted Arithmetic mean :
The average whose component items are being multiplied by certain values
known as “weights” and the aggregate of the multiplied results are being
divided by the total sum of their “weight”.
If x1, x2…xn be the values of a variable x with respective weights of w1, w2… wn
assigned to them, then

Weighted A.M =

 Uses of the weighted mean:

Weighted arithmetic mean is used in:
a. Construction of index numbers.
b. Comparison of results of two or more universities where
number of students differ.
c. Computation of standardized death and birth rates.

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2. Harmonic mean (H.M) :
Harmonic mean of a set of observations is defined as the reciprocal of the
arithmetic average of the reciprocal of the given values. If x1,x2…..xn are n
observations,

For a frequency distribution,

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2. Harmonic mean (H.M) Cont…
 Merits and demerits of Harmonic mean :

Merits Demerits

It is rigidly defined. It is not easily understood.

It is defined on all observations. It is difficult to compute.

It is amenable to further algebraic It is only a summary figure and may

treatment. not be the actual item in
the series
It is the most suitable average when it It gives greater importance to small
is desired to give greater weight to items and is therefore, useful only
smaller observations and less weight when small items have to be given
to the larger ones. greater weightage.

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3. Geometric Mean :
The geometric mean of a series containing n observations is the nth root
of the product of the values. If x1,x2…, xn are observations then

For Grouped Data :

For Ungrouped Data :
Formula is :
Formula is :

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3. Geometric Mean Cont…
 Merits and demerits of Harmonic mean :

Merits Demerits

It is rigidly defined. It cannot be used when the values are

negative or if any of the observations is
zero
It is based on all items. It is difficult to calculate particularly when
the items are very large or when there is a
frequency distribution.
It is very suitable for averaging It brings out the property of the ratio of the
ratios, rates and percentages. change and not the absolute difference of
change as the case in arithmetic mean.
It is capable of further The GM may not be the actual value of the
mathematical treatment. series.
Unlike AM, it is not affected much
by the presence of extreme values

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4. Median :
The median is that value of the variate which divides the group into two
equal parts, one part comprising all values greater, and the other, all values
less than median.

For Ungrouped or Raw data :

• Arrange the given values in the increasing or decreasing order.
• If the number of values are odd, median is the middle value.
• If the number of values are even, median is the mean of middle
two values.

Formula is :

Median =

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4. Median Cont…
For Grouped Data:
• In a grouped distribution, values are associated with frequencies.
• Grouping can be in the form of a discrete frequency distribution or
a continuous frequency distribution.
• cumulative frequencies have to be calculated to know the total number of
items.
Cumulative frequency : (cf)
Cumulative frequency of each class is the sum of the frequency of the class
and the frequencies of the pervious classes, i.e.. adding the frequencies
successively, so that the last cumulative frequency gives the total number of
items.
Discrete Series:
Step1: Find cumulative frequencies.
Step2: Find
Step3: See in the cumulative frequencies the value just greater than
Step4: Then the corresponding value of x is median.

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4. Median Cont…
Continuous Series:
The steps given below are followed for the calculation of median in
continuous series.
Step1: Find cumulative frequencies.
Step2: Find

Step3: See in the cumulative frequency the value first greater than ,

Then the corresponding class interval is called the Median class.

Then apply the formula :

Median =

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4. Median Cont…
Where, l = Lower limit of the median class
m = cumulative frequency preceding the
median
c = width of the median class
f =frequency in the median class.
N=Total frequency.

Note :If the class intervals are given in inclusive type convert them into exclusive type and call it
as true class interval and consider lower limit in this.

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4. Median Cont…

 Merits and demerits of median :

Merits Demerits

Median is not influenced by extreme A slight change in the series may bring
values because it is a positional average. drastic change in
median value.
Median can be calculated in case of In case of even number of items or
distribution with opened intervals. continuous series, median is an
estimated value other than any value in
the series.
Median can be located even if the data It is not suitable for further
are incomplete. mathematical treatment except its use
in mean deviation.
Median can be located even for It is not taken into account all the
qualitative factors such as ability, observations.
honesty etc.

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5. Mode :
Mode refers to that value in a distribution, which occur most frequently.
It is an actual value, which has the highest concentration of items in and
around it.
According to Croxton and Cowden “ The mode of a distribution is the
value at the point around which the items tend to be most heavily
concentrated. It may be regarded at the most typical of a series of values”.

Its importance is very great in marketing studies where a manager is

interested in knowing about the size, which has the highest concentration of
items.
Computation of the mode for Ungrouped or Raw Data :
For ungrouped data or a series of individual observations, mode is often
found by mere inspection.
Example : 2 , 7, 10, 15, 10, 17, 8, 10, 2
So, Mode = M0=10
In some cases the mode may be absent while in some cases there may be
more than one mode.

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5. Mode Cont…:
Computation of the mode for Grouped:
For Discrete distribution, see the highest frequency and corresponding value
of X is mode.
Continuous distribution :
The highest frequency then the corresponding value of class interval is
called the modal class.
Then apply the formula:

Mode =

l = Lower limit of the model class

f1 = frequency of the modal class

f0 = frequency of the class preceding the modal class
f2 = frequency of the class succeeding the modal class

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5. Mode Cont…:
The above formula can also be written as:

Mode =

 Merits and demerits of mode:

Merits Demerits

It is easy to calculate and in some It is not based on all observations.

cases it can be located mere
inspection
Mode is not at all affected by extreme It is not capable of further mathematical
values. treatment.
It can be calculated for open-end Mode is ill-defined generally, it is not
classes. possible to find mode
in some cases.
It is usually an actual value of an As compared with mean, mode is affected
important part of the series. to a great extent, by sampling
fluctuations.
In some circumstances it is the best It is unsuitable in cases where relative
representative of data. importance of items has to be considered.22
 Sources

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-06815-9_6
https://www.betterevaluation.org/en/evaluationoptions/measures_of_central
tendency
http://methods.sagepub.com/Reference//the-sage-encyclopedia-of-
communication-research-methods/i8503.xml
https://college.cengage.com/mathematics/brase/understandable_statistics/
9780618949922_ch03.pdf
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