CHAPTER 3 : MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

The measure you choose should give you a good indication of the typical score in
the sample or population.
The central tendency is measured by averages. These describe the point about
which the various observed values cluster.
In mathematics, an average, or central tendency of a data set refers to a measure
of the "middle" or "expected" value of the data set.
Three types of averages are often used as measures of central tendency. They are
mean, median and mode.
Mean ( x , )
The most frequently used but is sensitive to extreme scores
The arithmetic mean is the sum of a set of observations, positive, negative or zero,
divided by the number of observations. If we have n real numbers
their arithmetic mean, denoted by x .
i) Ungrouped Data.
Calculated by summing up all the observations in the data set and then dividing it by the
number of data.
x =
n
x x x x
n
....
3 2 1
+ + +
n = no.of data
X = value
Or
n
X
X

Example:
Total number of workers in five departments is 24,13,19,26 and 11.
So, mean for the number of workers in a department is
x =
6 . 18
5
11 26 19 13 24

+ + + +
ii) Grouped Data
For group data, each class interval is represented by the mid-point of the interval, x.
3 methods
1
a) Short method
b) Long method
c) Coding method
a) Short Method

f
fx
x
f = frequency
X = mid-point
Example:
Class Interval Frequency (f) Mid-point (x) fx
0 4 2 2 4
5 9 4 7 28
10 14 6 12 72
15 19 8 17 136
20 24 4 22 88
25 29 2 27 54
30 - 34 4 32 128
30

f
510

fx

f
fx
x
=
17
30
510

b) Long Method

,
`

.
|
+

f
fd
A x
f = frequency
A = mid-point for highest frequency
d = the different between mid-point
2
and A (d = x A)
Class Interval Frequency (f) Mid-point (x) d fd
0 4 2 2 2-17 = -15 -30
5 9 4 7 7-17 = -10 -40
10 14 6 12 -5 -30
15 19 8 17 0 0
20 24 4 22 5 20
25 29 2 27 10 20
30 - 34 4 32 15 60
30

f 0

fd

,
`

.
|
+

f
fd
A x
17
30
0
17
,
`

.
|
+ x
c) Coding Method
c
f
fu
A x

,
`

.
|
+

A = mid-point for highest frequency
u =
c
A x
c = class width
( i- upper limit lower limit + 1)
( ii- upper boundary lower boundary)
Example:
Class
Interval
Frequency (f) Mid-point (x) u fu
0 4 2 2 (2 17 )/5 = -3 -6
5 9 4 7 (7 - 17)/5 = -2 -8
10 14 6 12 (12 17)/5 = -1 -6
15 19 8 17 0 0
20 24 4 22 1 4
25 29 2 27 2 4
30 - 34 4 32 3 12
30

f 0

fx
3
c
f
fu
A x

,
`

.
|
+

=
5
30
0
17
,
`

.
|
+ x
= 17
Median
The implication of this definition is that a median is the middle value of the
observations such that the number of observations above it is equal to the number
of observations below it.

Median is a value that lies in the center of the data where half (50%) of the data are
greater or equal to this value, and another half (50%) of the data smaller or equal to this
value. The median is the number in the middle.
i) Ungroup Data
Median is the middle value of an ordered array of data. If there is an odd
number of an observation in the data that is arranged in ascending or
descending order, the median is the middle value of the data.
However, if there is an even number of observations in the data, the
median is the average of the two middle numbers.

Method:
1- Arranged data in ascending or descending order.
2- Find the median located by:
( )
2
1 + n
n = sample size (no.of data)
3- Determine the median
Example:
8, 9, 4, 10, 12, 15, 5
4
( )
4
2
1 7

+
4, 5, 8, ,10, 12, 15
ii) Grouped Data
For grouped data with a frequency distribution, the following method is used to find the
median:
a) Formula method
b) Histogram method
c) Ogive method
a) Formula method
Create a column for the cumulative frequency and determine the position of
median in the distribution. Once the median interval is determined, the
median is calculated as follows:
Median =
c
f
f
f
L
m
mo
m

,
`

.
|

2

f
= sum of frequency
L
m
= lower boundary of the median class
f
mo
= cumulative frequency before the median class
f
m
= frequency of the median class
c = median class size (class width of median class)
Example:
Class Interval Frequency Cumulative Frequency
86 96 4 4
97 107 9 13
108 118 14 27
119 129 10 37
130 140 9 46
141 151 1 47
152 -162 3 50
5
9
f =50
Median location =
( )
2

f
=
( )
25
2
50

L
m
= 107.5
f
mo
= 13
f
m
= 14
c = 11
Median =
c
f
f
f
L
m
mo
m

,
`

.
|

2

= + 5 . 107
( )
11
14
13
2
50
]
]
]
]

= 116.93
b) Histogram
c) Ogive
Mode
Mode is the value of a distribution for which the frequency is maximum.
In other words, mode is the value of a variable, which occurs with the
highest frequency.
It does not necessarily exist and not necessarily one mode in set of data.
i) Ungrouped data
Mode is the value that occurs frequently in a set of data. The mode is located
by arranging the data in ascending or descending order.
Example:
1) 5, 1, 5, 6, 2, 6, 3, 6, 9, 8, 6, 7, 4
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9
Mode = 6

ii) Grouped Data
6
For grouped frequency distribution with continuous variable, the mode can
also be calculated using :
1) Formula
2) Histogram
1- Formula
Mode =
( ) ( )
c
f f f f
f f
L
]
]
]

+
2 0 1 0
1 0
L = lower boundary of the class containing mode
c = size of the class containing mode
f
0
= frequency of the class containing mode
f
1
= frequency of the class before the class
containing mode.
f
2
= frequency of the class after the class
containing mode.
Or,
Mode = + L 1 c
1 + 2
L = lower boundary of the class containing mode
1 = the different between frequency of the class containing mode
and the class before the class containing mode.
2 = the different between frequency of the class containing mode
and the class after the class containing mode.
c = size of the class containing mode
Example:
Class interval F
7
86 96 4
97 107 9
108 118 14
119 129 10
130 140 9
141 151 1
152 - 162 3
Mode =
( ) ( )
c
f f f f
f f
L
]
]
]

+
2 0 1 0
1 0
L = 107.5
f
0
= 14
f
1
= 9
f
2
= 10
c = 11
=
( )
( ) ( )
11
10 14 9 14
9 14
5 . 107
]
]
]

+

=
11
4 5
5
5 . 107
,
`

.
|
+
+
= 113.6
Quartiles
Ungroup Data
Quartiles are the most widely used measures of non-central location and it is used to
describe positional values of large sets of numerical data. While the median is the middle
value that splits the ordered numbers into half (50% of the observations are smaller and
50% are larger than the median), the quartiles are descriptive measures that split the
ordered data into four quarters.
i) First Quartiles (Q
1
)
The first quartiles is a positional value where 25% of the observations are smaller
and 75% are larger than the value given by the following formula.

ii) Third Quartile (Q
3
)
8
4
1
1
+

n
Q
th value of ordered observations
The third quartile is a positional value where 75% of the observations are smaller
and 25% are larger than the value given by the following formula:
Example:
4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15
Solution:
The quartiles are computed as follows:
Position of first quartile,
4
1
1
+

n
Q
=
( )
4
1 7 +
= 2

th ordered observations
Therefore, using rule (c) Q
1
is approximately the second ordered observations.
Q
1
= 5
Position of third quartile,
( )
4
1 3
3
+

n
Q
=
( )
4
1 7 3 +
= 6 th ordered observations
Therefore, using rule (c), Q
3
is approximately the sixth ordered observations.
Q
3
= 12
Grouped Data
The position of grouped data can be measured by the first and the third quartile denote as
Q
1
and Q
3
respectively. The first and third quartiles can be calculated based on the
distribution table. They can be obtained using ogive (cumulative frequency curve).
The first (Q
1
) and third (Q
3
)
Steps to obtain the Q
1
and Q
3
values by using formula are as follows.
Step 1 Obtain the cumulative frequencies.
Step 2 Identify the first and third quartile classes. To do this,
first obtain the location and the third quartile
9
( )
4
1 3
3
+

n
Q
th value of ordered observations
respectively, by using formula
4

f
and
( )
4
3

f
.Then
refer to the cumulative frequency column and
determine the locations and classes in which Q
1
and Q
3

lie. Within these classes, the values of Q
1
and Q
3
can be
determined.
Step 3 Find the first and third quartile as follows:
Example:
Class Interval Frequency Cumulative frequency
20 30 4
31 41 8
10
1
1
1 1
4
c
f
f
f
L Q
mo
]
]
]
]
]
]

L
1
= lower boundary of the first quartile class
f = number of observations
f
mo
= cumulative frequency before the first quartile class
f
1
= frequency of the first quartile class
c
1
= first quartile class size
( )
3
3
3 3
4
3
c
f
f
f
L Q
mo
]
]
]
]
]
]

L
3
= lower boundary of the third quartile class
f = number of observations
f
mo
= cumulative frequency before the third quartile class
f
3
= frequency of the third quartile class
c
3
= third quartile class size
42 52 18
53 63 17
64 74 16
75 85 11
86 96 5
97 - 107 7
Calculate Q
1
and Q
3
Solution:
Identify the location or position of the first and third quartiles

,
`

.
|

,
`

.
|

4
86
4
1
f
Q
= 21.5
( )
( )
4
86 3
4
3
3


f
Q
= 64.5
The values of Q
1
and Q
3
are as follows:
1
1
1 1
4
c
f
f
f
L Q
mo
]
]
]
]
]
]

11
3 . 47
11
18
12
4
86
5 . 41

]
]
]
]
]
]

,
`

.
|
+
( )
3
3
3 3
4
3
c
f
f
f
L Q
mo
]
]
]
]
]
]

( )
11
11
63
4
86 3
5 . 74
3
]
]
]
]
]
]

+ Q
= 76
Decile (D)
Any one of the numbers or values in a series dividing the distribution of the
individuals in the series into ten groups of equal frequency.
Any one of the ten groups.
Ungrouped Data
( )
( )
10
1 3
10
1 2
10
1
3
2
1
+

n
D
n
D
n
D
Grouped Data
12
( )
c
f
f
f
L D
c
f
f
f
L D
m
b
m
b
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

,
`

.
|
+
]
]
]
]
]
]
]

,
`

.
|
+

5
0
5 5
1
0
1 1
10
5
10
Example:
Class Interval F fm
20 30 4
31 41 8
42 52 18
53 63 17
64 74 16
75 85 11
86 96 5
97 - 107 7
Find
9 7 5
, , D D D
93
6 . 72
9 . 60
9
7
5

D
D
D
Percentile (P)
Any of the 100 equal parts into which the range of the values of a set of data can be
divided in order to show the distribution of those values. The percentile of a given value
is determined by the percentage of the values that are smaller than that value. For
example, a test score that is higher than 95 percent of the other scores is in the 95th
percentile.
Ungrouped Data
13
( )
( )
100
1 77
100
1 55
100
1
77
55
1
+

n
P
n
P
n
P
Grouped Data
( )
( )
c
f
f
f
L P
c
f
f
f
L P
c
f
f
f
L P
m
b
m
b
m
b

,
`

.
|

,
`

.
|

,
`

.
|

77
0
77 77
55
0
55 55
1
0
1 1
100
77
100
55
100
14
Example:
Class Interval F fm
20 30 4
31 41 8
42 52 18
53 63 17
64 74 16
75 85 11
86 96 5
97 - 107 7
Find 90 66 15
, , P P P
93
21 . 70
05 . 42
90
66
15

P
P
P
Empirical Relationship
Empirical relationship between mean, median and mode.
Mean mode = 3(mean median)
Example:
1. Mean = 23
Mode = 14
Median = x
Answer = 20
2. Mean = 16
Median = 19
Mode = x
Answer = 25
15
3. Mean = x
Mode = 54
Median = 23

Answer = 7.5
16