Measures of Central Tendency

I. What is Central Tendency?

A score that indicates where the center of the distribution tends to be located.

A measure of central tendency is a single value that attempts to describe a set of data by
identifying the central position within that set of data. As such, measures of central tendency
are sometimes called measures of central location.
In many real-life situations, it is helpful to describe data by a single number that is most
representative of the entire collection of numbers. Such a number is called a measure of
central tendency.

II. Three of the most commonly used measures of central tendency

1. Mean
2. Median
3. Mode

A. Mean
The most popular and most widely used.
The mean of a set of numerical values is the average (the sum of the numbers divided
by n) of the set of values.
The numerical values can be population values or sample values.
It is generally described as the center of gravity of a distribution.

A.1 Mean of Ungrouped Data

The mean for ungrouped data is computed by simply adding all the values and dividing the
sum by the number of values: X = X
N

Example: The following are the family sizes of a sample of 10 households in a slum area:
2 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 7 7

Solution: X = 2+2+ 3 + 3+ 3+ 4+ 4+ 5 + 7+ 7 = 40
n = 10

X = X = 40 = 4
N 4

Computation of the mean for data where most of the scores occur more than once is
facilitated by first multiplying each value by the number of times it appears in the data
(frequency), adding the products obtained and then dividing by n.

Example:
X f fX
2 2 4
3 3 9
4 2 8
5 1 5
7 2 14
N = 10 Total = 40
A.2. The Mean of Grouped Data
The mean of a grouped frequency distribution may be obtained in almost the same way as
the mean of an ungrouped frequency distribution is computed. All the scores included in a class
interval are represented by the midpoint or class mark of that class interval. This class mark is
multiplied by its corresponding frequency, the product is summed, and divided by n or N depending
on whether the data constitute a sample or a population. The midpoint formula for the sample
mean is:

Long Method (midpoint formula)

X = fXm = 1905 = 38.10

N 50

X f Xm fXm
20-24 2 22 44
25-29 6 27 162
30-34 9 32 288
35-39 10 37 370
40-44 12 42 504
45-49 7 47 329
50-54 4 52 208
i=5 N=50 fXm= 1905

Coded formula or Coded Deviation Method

X = X0 + fX i
n

where: X0 assumed mean X coded value

f- frequency N total frequency
i interval size

X f Xm X fX
20-24 2 22 -4 -8
25-29 6 27 -3 -18
30-34 9 32 -2 -18
35-39 10 37 -1 -10
40-44 12 42 0 0
45-49 7 47 1 7
50-54 4 52 2 8
i=5 N=50 fX=-39
Find the mean of this distribution using the long method and the coded deviation method

X f Xm X fX
10-19 5
20-29 11
30-39 16
40-49 20
50-59 15
60-69 11
70-79 9
80-89 3
i=10 N= 90

B. Median

Defined as the score-point which divides a ranked distribution into two equal parts.
It is the value below which lies 50% of the data.
Unlike the mean, the median is not sensitive to extreme score; hence, it is very appropriate
when there are values which are relatively large or relatively small compared to most of the
scores.

B.1 The Median of Ungrouped Data

Computation of the median or ungrouped data requires the values to be arranged in the
order of magnitude, either in ascending or descending order.

For data involving an odd number of scores, the median is simply the middle value.

Ex. If n = 9, the median is the fifth score from either the lowest or highest.

If n is even, there would be two middle values. The median in this case is the average of
these two middle values.

The position of the median of a population relative to the lowest is generally computed by
the formula:

Mdn = (N + 1) /2
Examples:

1. Find the median of the following data: 6, 8, 15, 18, 23, 24, 42

Solution: N= 7

Mdn = (7 + 1) /2 = 8/2 = 4
= 4th score
Mdn = 18

2. Find the median of the following data: 121, 108, 120, 98, 132, 100, 92, 140, 102, 98

Ascending Order: 92, 98, 98, 100, 102, 108, 120, 121, 132, 140

Solution: N= 10

Mdn = (10 + 1) /2 = 11/2 = 5.5

= 5.5th score

Mdn = 102 + 108

2
Mdn = 105

3. Find the median of the following:

a) 523, 781, 628, 612, 708, 580, 620, 649, 628

b) 15, 16, 18, 20, 25, 28, 30, 26

c) 302, 310, 304, 307, 308, 303, 302, 305

B.2. The Median of Grouped Data

The initial step in the computation is to determine the class interval which contains the
n th score by referring to cf column of the cumulative frequency distribution.
2

We call the class interval to which the median belongs to as the median class.
Ex. N = 50 50/2 = 25 or 25th

Hence, the median class is 35-39

 X f cf <
20-24 2 2
25-29 6 8
30-34 9 17
35-39 10 27
40-44 12 39
45-49 7 46
50-54 4 50
i=5 N=50

We complete the computation of the median by applying the following formula:

Mdn = LLmd + N/2 cf<fm i
fm

where: LLmd lower limit of the median class

cf<fm the cumulative frequency above the median class
fm the frequency of the median class
i interval size

Find the median of the following grouped data:

X f cf <
60-69 2
70-79 6
80-89 10
90-99 22
100-109 19
110-119 11
120-129 7
130-139 3
i=10 N=80

C. MODE
 The value which we observe to have the highest frequency and which, in certain
cases, we use as a measure of central tendency.
Preference for this measure over the mean and median is usually influenced by the desire to
obtain a quick estimate of the average.
Unlike the median, it does not indicate anything about the other values in the data like how
many are greater than and how many are less than the most frequently occurring value.
Hence, the mode is rarely used.

C.1. The Mode of Ungrouped Data

For ungrouped data, the mode is obtained by mere inspection.
While it is possible for a set of values to have no mode because each score
appears only once, it is also possible for other sets of values to have more than one
mode.
Those with two modes are described as bimodal.
Those with many modes are called multimodal.

Example:

Find the mode of the following values:

4, 5, 8, 8, 8, 9, 12, 12, 15, 19, 20
Solution: The value 8 occurs more frequently than any other value; hence, mo = 8

a) 7, 3, 4, 3, 9, 8, 6, 2

b) 22,28, 27, 29, 28, 31, 27, 23, 21

c) 8, 3, 6, 5, 9, 2, 1, 15,7

C.1. The Mode of Grouped Data

Because of the limitations of the mode, many analysts find the class mark of the modal
class, the class interval with the highest frequency, a satisfactory estimate of the most frequently
occurring value.

Mo = Llmo + 1 i
1 + 2

Where: LLmo the lower limit of the modal class

1 the difference between the highest frequency and the frequency just above it
2 the difference between the highest frequency and the frequency just below it
i interval size
 X f
20-24 2
25-29 6
30-34 9
35-39 10 2
Modal class 40-44 12
45-49 7 5
50-54 4
i=5 N= 50

Calculate the mode of the following frequency distribution:

X f
14-20 1
21-27 3
28-34 6
35-41 11
42-48 8
49-55 7
56-62 4
i=7 N= 40