Measures of Central Tendency

Recomended video

1
 Measures of Central Tendency

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.

2
Population and simple sizes

Population
(N)
Sample
(n)

3
 Mean (𝜇 or 𝑥)ҧ

The mean of a data set is the sum of the data entries divided
by the number of entries.

σ𝑛
σ𝑁
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖
Population mean: 𝜇 = Sample mean: 𝑥ҧ =
𝑁 𝑛
“mu” “x-bar”

4
Example: the following are the ages of all seven employees
of a small company:
53 32 61 57 39 44 57
Calculate the mean.

σ 𝑥 343
𝜇= = Add the ages and divide by 7.
𝑁 7
= 49
The mean age of the employees is 49 years.
5
 Median (𝜇෤ or 𝑥)
෤

The median of a data set is the value that lies in the middle
of the data when the data set is ordered.

Example: calculate the median age of the seven employees.

53 32 61 57 39 44 57

To find the median, sort the data.

32 39 44 53 57 57 61

The median age of the employees is 53 years.

6
 Mode
The mode of a data set is the data entry or category that
occurs with the greatest frequency. If no entry is repeated,
the data set has no mode. If two entries occur with the same
greatest frequency, each entry is a mode and the data set is
called bimodal.

Example: find the mode of the ages of the seven employees.

53 32 61 57 39 44 57
The mode is 57 because it occurs the most times.

An outlier is a datum that is far from the other in the data set.
7
 Comparing the Mean, Median and
Mode
Example: A 29-year-old employee joins the company
and the ages of the employees are now:
53 32 61 57 39 44 57 29
Recalculate the mean, the median, and the mode. Which
measure of central tendency was affected when this new
age was added?

Mean = 46.5 The mean takes every value into

account, but is affected by the outlier.
Median = 48.5
The median and mode are not
Mode = 57 influenced by extreme values.
8
 Weighted Mean

A weighted mean is the mean of a data set whose entries

have varying weights. A weighted mean is given by

σ𝑥 ⋅ 𝑤
𝑥ҧ =
σ𝑤

where 𝑤 is the weight of each entry x.

9
Example: grades in a statistics class are weighted as
follows.

Tests are worth 50% of the grade, homework is worth 30% of

the grade and the final is worth 20% of the grade.

A student receives a total of 80 points on tests, 100 points on

homework, and 85 points on his final. What is his current
grade?

10
Begin by organizing the data in a table.

Source Score, x Weight, w xw

Tests 80 0.50 40
Homework 100 0.30 30
Final 85 0.20 17

The student’s current grade is 87.

 Measures of variation

Recomended video

12
Measures of variation

13
 Range
The range of a data set is the difference between the
maximum and minimum date entries in the set.

Range = (Maximum data entry) – (Minimum data entry)

Example:
The following data are the closing prices for a certain
stock on ten successive Fridays. Find the range.

Stock 56 56 57 58 61 63 63 67 67 67

The range is 67 – 56 = 11.

14
 Range

Ignores the way in which data are distributed.

Range = 12 – 7 = 5 Range = 12 – 7 = 5

7 8 9 10 11 12 7 8 9 10 11 12

15
 Intuitive idea

Distance

16
 Population variance and standard
deviation
The population variance of a population data set is

σ𝑁 2
2 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝜇
𝜎 =
𝑁
The population standard deviation of a population data
set is

σ𝑁
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝜇
2
𝜎=
𝑁

17
 Sample variance and standard
deviation
The sample variance of a sample data set is
𝑛 2
2
σ𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ
𝑠 =
𝑛−1

The sample standard deviation of a sample data set is

σ𝑛𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ 2
𝑠=
𝑛−1

18
 Example

A statistic class with five students took a test

with these test scores: 92, 95, 83, 76, 54.

Find the population variance and standard

deviation for this class.

19
 92+95+83+76+54
1) Find the mean: μ = = 80
5
2) Find the deviation from the mean:
92-80= 12 95-80= 15 83-80=3
76-80= -4 54-80=-26
3) Square the deviation from the mean:
(12)2=144 (15)2=225 (3)2=9
(-4)2=16 (-26)2=676
4) Find the sum of the squares:
144 +225+ 9+ 16+ 676=1070

20
5) Divide the sum of squares by the number of
items
1070
𝜎2 = = 214 points2
5

6) Find the square root of the variance

𝜎 = 214 = 14.63 points

21
 Comparing Standard Deviations

Mean = 15.5
Data A

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 s = 0.9258
Data B

Mean = 15.5

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 s = 3.338

Mean = 15.5
Data C

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
s = 4.57

22
 Coefficient of variation

• Measures relative variation

• Always in percentage (%)
• Shows variation relative to mean
• Is used to compare two or more sets of data
measured in different units

23
 Example

1000 ml pack

50 ml pack

24