Course “BBA”

. Semester- 2nd

Fundamentals
of Statistics

Unit :3
“Measure of Central Tendency”
 1. Measure of Central Tendency
There are three commonly used measures of central tendency, viz., Mean, Median and Mode.
The mean again may be of three types, viz. Arithmetic Mean (A.M.), Geometric Mean
(G.M.) and Harmonic Mean (H.M.).
Requirements of a Good Measure of Central Tendency: Some desirable requirements of a
good measure of central tendency are as follows:

● It should be rigidly defined.

● It should be based on all the observations.

● It should be easily comprehensible and easy to calculate.

● It should be capable of further mathematical treatment.

● It should not be affected by fluctuations of sampling.

● It should not be unduly affected by extreme observations.

● It should have sampling stability.

● It should be easy to understand

1.1 ARITHMETIC MEAN (A.M.)

The arithmetic mean is simply called ‘Average’. For the observations x1, x2, ..., xn
the A.M. is defined as

For simple frequency distribution,

For the grouped data (frequency distribution), the arithmetic mean is given by

where f is the frequency, x the mid-point of the class-interval and N the total number of
observations.

1.11 Merits and Demerits of Arithmetic Mean

The following are the merits and demerits of arithmetic mean:
 (a) Merits of Arithmetic Mean
(i) It is commonly understood and most widely used.
(ii) It is simple and easy to calculate.
(iii) It is based on all the observations.
(iv) It is a good measure for comparison.
(v) It is adaptable to arithmetic and algebraic treatment.
(b) Demerits of Arithmetic Mean
(i) The value of mean is highly affected by abnormal and extreme values.
(ii) It may not be actually present in the series. For example, the average of 2, 3 and 10 is
5, which is not an observation of the series.
(iii) It can be calculated if certain item is missing. Further, in case of open-end interval, it
is calculated on certain assumption.
(iv) It cannot be located by mere observation

1.12 Calculation of Arithmetic Mean

Mainly three forms of data are available, which are given below:
(i) Individual series or ungrouped data
(ii) Discrete series
(iii) Continuous series
Calculation of Arithmetic Mean in Individual Series
a) Direct method: The arithmetic mean of a set of n observations x 1, x2, ..., xn is
denoted by x and is defined as

b) Short-cut method: If the observations and magnitude of the observations is large,

short-cut method is used to reduce the arithmetic calculations. The formula is

where A - assumed mean

d - deviations of the observations from assumed mean (x – A) and

n- total number of observations
Example 1: Calculate the arithmetic mean from the number of the spikelets per spike in
wheat: Number of spikelets per spike: 18, 20, 21, 19, 28, 22, 29, 30, 31, 35
Solution: Assumed mean =
24

Calculation of Arithmetic Mean in a Discrete Series

(a) Direct method: Let a variable take n values x1, x2, ..., xnhaving corresponding
frequencies f 1, f 2, ..., f n , then the arithmetic mean is obtained by the formula:

(b) Short-cut method (or Deviation method): : According to this method

where A is assumed mean

d = (x – A) is the deviation of the observations from assumed mean

N = f is the total number of observations

Example 2: Calculate the arithmetic mean of Haemoglobin values (g%) of 26 normal
children:
Solution:

Calculation of Arithmetic Mean in Continuous Series :

(a) Direct method: The following formula can be

used for calculation of arithmetic mean in a continuous series:

where x is the mid-point of various classes

Mid-point = ( lower limit + upper limit)/2.
Example 3: Calculate the arithmetic mean of protein intake of 400 families:

(b)

Short-cut method: According to this method

c) Step-deviation method: According to this method

1.2 GEOMETRIC MEAN (G.M.)

The geometric mean of the observations x1, x2, ..., xn is defined as
G.M. = ( x1, x2, ..., xn)1/n
For simple frequency distribution

For grouped frequency distribution, xi is taken as class mark.

Example 4: Find the G.M. of the following distribution

Solution: Here N = No. of days = 15

Then
1.3 HARMONIC MEAN (H.M.)
The reciprocal of the H.M. of a variate is the A.M. of its reciprocal,
For the observations x1, x2, ..., xn

For simple frequency distribution,

For grouped frequency distribution xi is taken as class mark.

Example 5 : Suppose a train moves 100 km with a speed of 40 km/hr, then 150 km
with a speed of 50 km/hr and next 135 km with a speed of 45 km/hr. Calculate the average
speed:
Solution: To get average speed we require harmonic mean of 40,50 and 45 with 100, 150 and
135 as the respective frequency or weights.

Hence the average speed per hour is 45.29 km

1.4 MEDIAN
The ‘median’ is another important and widely used measure of central tendency. Median of a
distribution is the value of the variable which divides it into two equal parts, i.e., median is
the value such that the number of observations above it is equal to the number of observations
below it. The median is thus a positional average. In case of ungrouped data, if the number of
observations is odd, then median is the middle value after the values have been arranged in
ascending or descending order of magnitude. In case of even number of observation, there are
two middle terms and median is obtained by taking the arithmetic mean of the two middle
terms. For example, the median of the values 25, 20, 15, 35, 18, i.e., 15, 18, 20, 25, 35 is 20
and median of the values 8, 20, 50, 25, 15, 30, i.e., 8, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50 is 1/ 2 (20+25) =
22.5
Calculation of Median: The data are arranged in ascending order of magnitude to find out
the value of the median. If the number of observations is odd, then the middle value is the
median. If the number of observations is even, then median is the average of the two middle
terms.
 (i) Calculation of Median in Individual Series: For calculating median in a series of
individual observations, the following steps are follow:
Step I. Arrange the data in ascending or descending order of magnitude.
Step II. If the number of observations is odd, then median is the middle value or

If the number of observations is even, then median is obtained by taking the arithmetic mean of the
two middle terms or

Example 6: Calculate the median from the data recorded on the number of clusters per plant
in a pulse crop:
Number of clusters = 10, 18, 17, 19, 10, 15, 11, 17, 12.
Solution: Arrange the data in ascending order, i.e., 10, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 17, 18, 19, n = 9,
i.e., odd

(ii) Calculation of Median in Discrete Series:

In case of discrete frequency distribution, median is
obtained by considering the cumulative frequency
(c.f.). The steps for calculating median are given below:

Step I. Arrange the data in ascending or descending order of magnitude.

Step II. Find out the cumulative frequencies.

Step III. Find N 2 , where N = f .

Step IV. See the c.f. just greater than N/2.

Step V. The corresponding value of x is median

Example7: Calculate the median from the following frequency distribution

Solution:
Here N/ 2 = 100/ 2 = 5

c.f. just greater than N/2 is 64 and the value of x corresponding to 64 is 7.5. Therefore, the median is
7.5

(iii) Calculation of Median in Continuous Series : In case of continuous frequency distribution,

the class corresponding to the c.f. just greater than N /2 is called the median class and the
value of median is obtained by the following formula:

where l is the lower limit of the median class,

f is the frequency of the median class,

h is the magnitude of the median class,

C is the c.f. of class preceeding the median class, and

N = f is the total number of frequency.

Example 8 : Calculate the median from the following frequency distribution:

Solution:
Here N /2 48 /2 = 24,

c.f. just greater than 24 is 34 and corresponding class is 6–9. Therefore, the median class is 6–9

1.5 MODE
The ‘Mode’ is another measure of central tendency which is conceptually very useful. “Mode is the
value which occurs most frequently in a set of observations and around which the other items of the
set cluster densely.” In other words, mode is the value of the variable which is predominant in the
series.

Calculation of Mode
Mode is calculated by different methods, depending upon the nature of the series.
(i) Calculation of Mode in Individual Observations: For determining the mode, count
the number of items, the various values repeat themselves and the value occuring
the maximum number of times is the modal value.
Example 9: Calculate the mode of the following data relating to the weights of a sample
of 10 experimental animals

Solution :

Since the item 11 occurs the maximum number of times, i.e., 4, hence the modal value is 11.
 (ii) Calculation of Mode in Discrete Series: In case of discrete frequency
distribution, mode is the value of x corresponding the maximum frequency. For
example, in the following frequency distribution

From the above data, we can clearly say that the modal size is 31, because the
value 31 has occured the maximum number of times, i.e., 65.

(iii) Calculation of Mode in Continuous Series: In case of continuous frequency

distribution, mode is given by the formula

Where l is the lower limit of the modal class,

h is the magnitude of the modal class,
f 1 is the frequency of the modal class,
f 0 is the frequency of the class preceding the modal class,
f 2 is the frequency of the class succeeding the modal class.
Example 10: Determine the modal size for the following frequency distribution

Solution: Here the maximum frequency is 28. Thus the class 40–50 is the modal class.

Merits and Demerits of Mode

Merits
(i) It is easy to calculate, sometimes it is found only by inspection.
(ii) It is not affected by extreme values.
(iii) It can be calculated from open end classes.
(iv) It is simple and precise.
(v) Mode is that point where there is more concentration of frequencies. Hence, it is the
best representative of the data.
Demerits
(i) It is not based on all the items of the distribution.
(ii) It cannot be treated algebraically.
(iii) Equal intervals are needed for the calculation of mode, which is a drawback.
(iv) In certain situations, it is not clearly defined. Also in case of bi-modal or multimodal
distribution, it is not defined.
Uses of Mode
Mode is the average to be used to find the ideal size, e.g., in business forecasting, in the
manufacture of ready-made garments, shoes, etc. Mode helps the manufacturer in deciding
the modals. It is useful in industry and business. Weather forecasts are also based on mode.
It is very useful to agriculturists, businessmen, etc. Mode is also used in socio-economic
surveys.