1-1

Chapter 3

Measures of Central
Tendency
 1-2

3.1 Introduction

Measures of central tendency (average) helps to condense a
mass of data into a single representative value

An average is a single value intended to represent a data set
as a whole

Best averages are:

based on all the observations

simple to understand and easy to interpret

easily manipulated algebraically

little affected by fluctuations of sampling

should not unduly be influenced by extreme values
 1-3


Objectives of measuring central tendency:


To get one single value that describes the entire data set

To facilitate comparison between different data sets
 1-4

3.2 The summation notations


A variable X has values x1, x2,…xn. The sum x1+x2+…
+xn can be written in a compact
n
form as:
x
i 1
i

x1+x2+…+xn =

• Properties of summation notations:

 1-5

3.3 Types of central tendency


Measures of Central Tendency
 Median

 Mode

 Mean
 1-6

3.3.1 Mean (x
Arithmetic mean

Let x1, x2,…xn are the values of a variable X. The
arithmetic mean is:
n
n
 f i xi
x i
OR
x  i 1
n
x  i 1  fi
n i 1
• The population mean is:

  X i

N
 1-7


Example: The weight (in Kg) of eight youths: 32, 37, 41,
39, 36, 43, 48 and 36. The mean weight is:
n

x i
x i 1
n
= 312/8 = 39
 1-8

Weighted Arithmetic mean

 used to calculate the average when the relative importance

of the observations differs. This relative importance is

known as weight
 If x1, x2, …, xn have weights w1, w2, …, wn, respectively,

then the weighted arithmetic mean becomes:

n

wx i i
xw  i 1n
w
i 1
i
 1-9

 Example: Suppose that a student obtained the following

grades in the first semester of freshman program.

Course Mats Bio Chem Phy Flen

Credit 4 3 3 4 3
hours
Grade A C B B C

wx i i
xw  i 1
n
= 49/17 = 2.88
 wi
i 1
 1-10

Combined mean
 Different data sets on the same characteristic with means

x1 , x2 ,..., xn with sample size n1, n2, …, nn, respectively, then

the combined mean is:
n

n x i i
x  i 1
n

n
i 1
i
 1-11

Properties of arithmetic mean


Computed for numerical data, it always exists, and unique

It depends on all observations

The sum of deviations of the values from the mean is zero

It is greatly affected by extreme values

It is not greatly affected by fluctuations in sampling
 1-12

Geometric mean (GM)

 Is useful in finding the average of percentages, ratios, indexes, or rates.

Example: A company’snyear-to-year changes in fuel consumption

GM
expenditures were 
5, 10, x1x
20, 2 ...
40 andx60
n percent. Determine the average
yearly percent change in expenditure

Properties of geometric mean

• It depends on all observations

• It is not much affected by extreme values

 1-13

3.3.2 The Median ~

x

It is the middle value for data arranged in order of magnitude

Median for raw (ungrouped) data:

 n  1  th
  obsr , if n is odd
 2 

 1   n 
th
 n  2 
th


Properties of median
    obsr , if n is even
2   2   2  
• It is an 
 average of position
• It is affected by the number of observations than by extreme values
 1-14

3.3.3 The Mode x̂


It is the most frequent value in the data set

Properties of mode

is easy to calculate and understand

is not affected by extreme values

is not based on all observations

is not used in further analysis of data

is not unique
 1-15

The Mean, Median and Mode for

grouped data
Mean

 f i xi
x  i 1
n

 fi
i 1is the class mark (class mid point)
Where

xi
 1-16

Example: Calculate the mean time spent by automobile

workers.
Time Class mark Number of workers
15.5-16.5 18.5 3
16.5-27.5 24.5 6
27.5-33.5 30.5 8
33.5-39.5 36.5 4
39.5-45.5 42.5 3
45.5-51.5 48.5 1
The mean time spent is 30.74 minutes.
 1-17

Median

n 
  cf 
2
Lmed - LCB of median class;

 w
•

•
~
fmd – frequency of median class;

x Lmed
w – class width;

f med
• cf – sum of frequencies lower than the median class
• Median class is the class containing the (n/2) th observation
 1-18

The Mean, Median and Mode for

grouped data
Example: Find the median for the following frequency distribution.

The median 24.5. Class boundary Frequency

5.5 – 10.5 1
10.5 – 15.5 2
15.5 – 20.5 3
20.5 – 25.5 5
25.5 – 30.5 4
30.5 – 35.5 3
35.5 – 40.5 2
 1-19

Mode

 f1  f 0 
xˆ Lmod    w
• f1 – frequency of modal;
• f0 - frequency of the class preceding the modal class;
• f2 – frequency of the class next to the modal class;
• Lmod – LCB of the modal class

 2 f1  f 0  f 2 
• The modal class is the class with the highest frequency
 1-20

Example: Calculate the modal time spent by the automobile

workers.
Time (in Minutes) Number of workers
16-21 3
22-27 6
28-33 8
34-39 4
40-45 3
46-51 1
Total 25
• The mode is 29.5