Measures of

Central
Tendency
Measures of Central Tendency
Central Tendency
any measure indicating the center
of a set of data, arranged in an
increasing or decreasing order of
magnitude.
Most commonly used Measures of
Central Tendency:
mean
median
mode
a calculated average
most widely used
Mean
If the set of data x
1
, x
2
, ,x
n
, not necessarily
all distinct, represents a finite sample of size
n, the mean is
n
x
x
n
i
i
=
=
1
Mean
Mean
Example:
A food inspector examined a random sample of
7 cans of certain brand of tuna to determine
the percent of foreign impurities. The
following data were recorded: 1.8, 2.1, 1.7,
1.6, 0.9, 2.7 and 1.8. Compute the mean.
7
8 . 1 7 . 2 9 . 0 6 . 1 7 . 1 1 . 2 8 . 1 + + + + + +
= x
8 . 1 = x
Weighted Mean
An average in which each quantity to be
averaged is assigned a weight.

=
=
=
n
i
i
n
i
i i
w
x w
x
1
1
Course Grade Units
TOUR 119 1.25 4
TOUR 116 2.75 3
HRM 117 1.50 3
PHL 2 2.75 3
PDSR 1.00 3
FRENCH 2 5.00 3
ENG 3 1.25 3
IE 210 1.75 3
TOUR 111 1.00 3
Median
a rank or position average
less widely used than mean
Median
The median of a set of observations arranged
in an increasing or decreasing order of
magnitude is the middle value when the number
of observations is odd or the arithmetic mean of
the two middle values when the number of
observations is even.
Median
If odd:
position
n
x
2
1
~
+
=
3
2
1 5
~
=
+
= x
where: n = no. of observations
Example:
On 5 term tests in zoology a student has made
grades of 82, 93, 86, 92 and 79. Find the
median of the grades.
79 82 86 92 93
86
~
= x
position of the median
Median
If even:
where: n = no. of observations
Example:
The nicotine contents for a random sample of
6 cigarettes of a certain brand found to be 2.3,
2.7, 2.5, 2.9, 3.1 and 1.9 milligrams. Find the
median.
3.1 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.3 1.9
( )
2
1
2 2
~
position position
n n
x
+ +
=
2
5 . 2 7 . 2
2
4 3
2
1
2
6
2
6
~
+
=
+
=
|
.
|

\
|
+ +
=
th rd
x
6 . 2
~
= x
Mode
an inspection average
most frequently occurring value
Mode
The mode of a set of observations is that value
which occurs most often or with the greatest
frequency.
Example:
The number of movies attended last month by
a random sample of 12 high school students
was recorded as follows: 2, 0, 3, 1, 2, 4, 2, 5,
2, 0, 1 and 4. Find the mode.
2

= x
Mode
*Remember:
The mode does not always exist.
Example:
Krizzys scores in her Filipino quizzes are as
follows: 10, 11, 19, 20, 15 and 0. Find the
mode of her scores.
- No mode exist since each score occurs only
once.
Mode
*Remember:
For some set of data there may be several
values occurring with the greatest frequency
in which case we have more than one mode.
Example:
Jelaines scores in her Botany quizzes are 7, 6,
3, 7, 7, 6, 4, 4 and 6. Find the mode.
- In this case, there are two modes, 6 and 7
since both of them occur with the greatest
frequency. The distribution is said to be
bimodal.
Measures of Central Tendency
for Grouped Data
TABLE I
Score Distribution of Students in Literature Quiz
CI f CB
LCB UCB
Class Mark
(x)
<CF fx
7 9 8 6.5 9.5 8 8 64
10 12 13 9.5 12.5 11 21 143
13 15 19 12.5 15.5 14 40 266
16 18 21 15.5 18.5 17 61 357
19 21 18 18.5 21.5 20 79 360
22 24 12 21.5 24.5 23 91 276
25 27 3 24.5 27.5 26 94 78
28 30 1 27.5 30.5 29 95 29
95 = N
=1573 fx
no. of class interval = 8 interval size = 3
Measures of Central Tendency
for Grouped Data
Mean:
N
fx
x

=
56 . 16
95
1573
= = x
where: f = frequency
x = class mark
N = total frequency
Example: Find the mean of Table I.
Measures of Central Tendency
for Grouped Data
TABLE I
Score Distribution of Students in Literature Quiz
CI f CB
LCB UCB
Class Mark
(x)
<CF fx
7 9 8 6.5 9.5 8 8 64
10 12 13 9.5 12.5 11 21 143
13 15 19 12.5 15.5 14 40 266
16 18 21 15.5 18.5 17 61 357
19 21 18 18.5 21.5 20 79 360
22 24 12 21.5 24.5 23 91 276
25 27 3 24.5 27.5 26 94 78
28 30 1 27.5 30.5 29 95 29
95 = N
=1573 fx
no. of class interval = 8 interval size = 3
Measures of Central Tendency
for Grouped Data
Median:
where: LB = lower class boundary of the
median class (locate n/2 <CF)
N = total frequency
cfb = cumulative frequency before
the median class
f = frequency of the median class
c = interval size
Example: Find the median of Table I.
c
f
cfb
N
LB x
|
|
.
|

\
|

+ =
2 ~
3
21
40 5 . 47
5 . 15
~
|
.
|

\
|

+ = x
57 . 16
~
= x
Measures of Central Tendency
for Grouped Data
TABLE I
Score Distribution of Students in Literature Quiz
CI f CB
LCB UCB
Class Mark
(x)
<CF fx
7 9 8 6.5 9.5 8 8 64
10 12 13 9.5 12.5 11 21 143
13 15 19 12.5 15.5 14 40 266
16 18 21 15.5 18.5 17 61 357
19 21 18 18.5 21.5 20 79 360
22 24 12 21.5 24.5 23 91 276
25 27 3 24.5 27.5 26 94 78
28 30 1 27.5 30.5 29 95 29
95 = N
=1573 fx
no. of class interval = 8 interval size = 3
Measures of Central Tendency
for Grouped Data
Mode:
where: LB = lower class boundary of the
modal class (highest frequency)
D
1
= f
mo
f
before
D
2
= f
mo
f
after
c = interval size
Example: Find the mode of Table I.
c
D D
D
LB x
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
+ =
2 1
1

( )
( ) ( )
3
18 21 19 21
19 21
5 . 15
(

+

+ = x
3
3 2
2
5 . 15
|
.
|

\
|
+
+ = x
7 . 16 = x