Measures of Central Tendency

Mean,Median and Mode

for Ungrouped
Data Basic
Statistics

Lecture 3
 DATA

 Categorical Data (Qualitative )

 Measurement Data ( Quantitative)

Categorical Data

Nominal Data
A type of categorical data in which numbers act as a label without
having any specific meaning
Example:
Male : 1
Female : 2

Ordinal Data
A type of categorical data in which numbers act as an guide to the
level of importance of the object
Example:
Mild
Moderate
Severe

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Measurement Data
Discrete Data
Only Certain Values are Possible
There are gaps between the possible value
Are generated through the process of Counting
Example:
Number of students in the class
Number of Employees Absent from Work

Continuous Data
Any value within an interval is possible with a suitable measuring
device
Theoretically, the number can be accurate to any desired number of
decimal places
Are generated through the process of Measurement
Example:
Height in cm
Time to complete the assignment

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Classification :: Scaling Theory
ORDER DISTANCE ORIGIN

Nominal Data
A type of categorical data in which numbers act as a label without
having any specific meaning
Example:
Male : 1
Female : 2

Ordinal Data
A type of categorical data in which numbers act as an guide to the
level of importance of the object
Example:
Mild
Moderate
Severe

ORDER DISTANCE ORIGIN

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Classification :: Scaling Theory
ORDER DISTANCE ORIGIN

Interval Data
Quantitative Data but does not has any real zero point
Allows comparison within the scale but cannot compare outside the
scale
Used in Social Research, but most researcher not clear about Interval
scale
Example:
Definitely Will Buy / Probably Will Buy / May or May not Buy / Probably
Will not Buy / Definitely Will not Buy

Ratio Data
Quantitative Data but has real zero point
Allows conversion and preservation on the magnitude in another scale
Example:
Distance in Kms

ORDER DISTANCE ORIGIN

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Measures of Central Tendency

In layman’s term, a measure

of central tendency is an
AVERAGE. It is a single number of
value which can be considered
typical in a set of data as a
whole.
For example, in a class of 40
students, the average height
would be the typical height of the
members of this class as a whole.
MEAN

Among the three measures of central tendency, the

mean is the most popular and widely used. It is
sometimes called the arithmetic mean.
If we compute the mean of the population, we call
it the parametric or population mean, denoted by μ
(read “mu”).
If we get the mean of the sample, we call it the
sample mean and it is denoted by (read “x bar”).
Mean for Ungrouped Data
For ungrouped or raw data, the mean has the following
formula.

where = mean
= sum of the measurements or values
n = number of measurements

Example 1:
Ms. Sumitra collects the data on the ages of Mathematics
teachers in Saint Rose School, and her study yields the
following:
38 35 28 36 35 33 40
Solution:

= 35
Based on the computed mean, 38 is the average age of
Mathematics teachers in SRS.
Your turn!

Mansoor is a meat vendor. The following are his sales for

the past six days. Compute his daily mean sales.
Tuesday Rs 5 800
Wednesday 8 600
Thursday 6 500
Friday 4 300
Saturday 12 500
Sunday 13 400

Solution:

= (51, 100/6) = Rs. 8516.67

The average daily sales of Mansoor is Rs. 8516.67.

Ex. 3


The arithmetic mean of the sales of 100 stores is 20 units. If after an

xi
Ad- campaign each store's sales is doubled and then after an in-
store Sales promotion campaign is increased by another 5 units in

x 
each store, then what is the mean sales now in units?
 xi  xi
 xi  2000
n
Solution : x   20 
n 100
New summation after an Ad- campaign and then after an in-store
Sales promotion campaign

  xi  4000  5(100)  4500

So , the new mean is = X  4500  45

100
Weighted Mean

Weighted mean is the mean of a set of values wherein

each value or measurement has a different weight or
degree of importance. The following is its formula:

where = mean

x = measurement or value

w = number of measurements
Example
Below are Anaya’s subjects and the corresponding number
of units and grades she got for the previous grading
period. Compute her grade point average.
Subject Units Grade
Hindi .9 86
English 1.5 85
Mathematics 1.5 88
Science 1.8 87
SUPW .9 86
EVS 1.2 83
Social Studies 1.2 87

= (774.9/9)= 86.1

Anaya’s average grade is 86.1

Your turn!
Jahnavi obtained the following grades in her five subjects for
the second standard. Compute her grade point average.

Subject Units Grade

Math 1.5 90
English 1.5 86
Science 1.8 88
Hindi 0.9 87
Social Studies 1.5 87

Solution:

= (631.2 / 8.2)= 87.67

Jahnavi’s grade point average is 87.67

Likert-type Question
This is used if the researcher wants to know the
feelings or opinions of the respondents regarding any topic or
issues of interest.

Next are examples of Likert-type statements.

Respondents will choose the number which best
represents their feeling regarding the statements.
Note that the statements are grouped according to a
theme.
Choices
5 (SA) Strongly Agree
4 (A) Agree
3 (N) Neutral
2 (D) Disagree
1 (SD) Strongly Disagree
Students’ personal confidence in learning 5 4 3 2 1
Statistics
1. I am sure that I can learn Statistics
2. I think I can handle difficult lessons in
Statistics.
3. I can get good grades in Statistics.
Source: B.E. Blay, Elementary Statistics

Below are the responses in the Likert-type of

statements above. The table below shows the mean
responses and their interpretation. Using the formula for
computing the weighted mean, check the correctness of
the given means on the table.

5 4 3 2 1 Mean Interpretation
1 36 51 18 0 1 4.14 Agree
2 18 44 37 8 1 3.65 Agree
3 18 48 28 0 1 3.86 Agree
Likert-type Mean Interpretation
1.0 - 1.79 - Strongly Disagree
1.8 - 2.59 - Disagree
2.6 - 3.39 - Neutral
3.4 - 4.19 - Agree
4.2 - 5.00 - Strongly Agree
Your turn!
Below is the result of the responses to the following Likert-
type statements . Solve for the mean and give the
interpretation.

Students’ perception on Statistics as 5 4 3 2 1

a subject
1. I think Statistics is a worthwhile, necessary
subject
2. I will use Statistics in many ways as a
professional
3. I’ll need a good understanding of Statistics
for my research work

5 4 3 2 1 Mean Interpretation
1 33 49 26 1 1
2 35 45 31 0 1
3 34 58 21 0 0
Properties of Mean
1. Mean can be calculated for any set of
numerical data, so it always exists.
2. A set of numerical data has one and
only one
mean.
3. Mean is the most reliable measure of central
tendency since it takes into account every item
in the set of data.
4. It is greatly affected by extreme or deviant
values (outliers)
5. It is used only if the data are interval or
ratio.
MEDIAN

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Your turn!
Compute the median and interpret the result.
1. In a survey of small businesses in Durgapur, 10
bakeries report the following numbers of employees:
15, 14, 12, 19, 13, 14 15, 18, 13, 19.

2. The random savings of 2nd year high school

students reveal the following current balances in
their bank accounts:
Students A B C D E F G H
Current Balances 340 350 450 500 360 760 800 740

3. The following are the lifetimes of 9 lightbulbs in

thousands of hours.
Lightbulb A B C D E F G H I
Lifetime 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.4 .9 .2 1.2 1.7
Properties of Median

1. Median is the score or class in the distribution

wherein 50% of the score fall below it and
another 50% lie.
2. Median is not affected by extreme or deviant
values.
3. Median is appropriate to use when there are
extreme or deviant values.
4. Median is used when the data are ordinal.
5. Median exists in both quantitative or
qualitative
data.
MODE

Examples:
Find the Mode.
1. The ages of five students are: 17, 18, 23, 20, and 19
2. The following are the descriptive evaluations of 5
teachers: VS, S, VS, VS, O
3. The grades of five students are : 4.0, 3.5, 4.0, 3.5, and
1.0
4. The weights of five boys in pounds are: 117, 218, 233,
120, and 117
Properties

1. It is used when you want to find the value

which occurs most often.
2. It is a quick approximation of the
average.
3. It is an inspection average.
4. It is the most unreliable among the three
measures of central tendency because its
value is undefined in some observations.
Your turn!

Find the mode and interpret it.

1. The following table shows the frequency of errors

committed by 10 typists per minute.
Typists A B C D E F G H I J
No. of errors per min. 5 3 3 7 2 8 8 4 7 10

2. A random sample of 8 mango trees reveals the

following number of fruits they yield
Mango Tree A B C D E F G H
No. of fruits 80 70 80 90 82 82 90 82

3. The following are the scores of 9 students in a

Mathematics quiz.: 12, 15, 12, 8, 7, 15, 19, 24, 13
When to use mean, median and mode?

The type of Analysis depends on the Type of data you have collected
General Guideline is a follows:

Nominal Data Mode

Ordinal Data + Median

Interval Data + Mean

Ratio Scale + Geometric Mean / Harmonic Mean

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