MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

By JEMIMAH NINSIIMA

Introduction
One of the most important objectives of
statistical analysis is to get one single value that
describes the characteristic of the entire mass of
data
Such a value is called the central value or an
average or the expected value of the variable
The word average is commonly used in day to day
conversation
Average is defined as attempt to find a single
figure to describe whole of figures

Objectives of averaging
To get single value that describes
the characteristic of the entire
group
Measures of central value, by
condensing the mass of data in one
single, enable us to get a bird `s eye
view of the entire data

MEASURES OF
CENTRAL TENDENCY
Measures of central tendency are
measures of the location of the middle or
the center of a distribution.
There are a number of measures of
central tendency and these include; mean,
the median, the mode

Measures of Central
tendency
A good Measure of Central tendency should have
the following characteristics
It should be easy to calculate and understand
It should be unique and exist at all times
It should consider all observations
It should not be affected by extreme values
It should be suitable for further mathematical
manipulation

Mean
This is the summation of all
observations divided by the number
of observations in the sample

Mean
For Ungrouped data
It is given by X =

Xi
N

=X1 +X2 +.+Xn

Mean
For Grouped data
The mean for grouped data is given
by
X = fXi
f

Mean
advantages/disadvantages
Advantages
It summarizes the entire distribution
It could be processed further into the
standard distribution
It is unbiased/meaning it always gives us
the population mean

Mean Disadvantages
It may be some distance from the majority
of observations
Can be misleading
It is approximated for grouped data
Sometimes the figure obtained is not
anywhere in the distribution.
Can give fractional values even for ungrouped
data

Properties of the Mean

1.The product of the mean and number
of the values on which the mean is
based is equal to the sum of all given
value e.g. if the variables are 3,5,7,9
and we substitute these by the mean,
the total is 24

Properties of the Mean

2.The algebras sum of the deviations of
the values from the arithmetic mean is
equal to zero i.e. (x- x) = 0
3. The sum of the squares of deviations
from the mean is the least

Median
The median conveys the notion of
being the middle most value with in
the data distribution

Median
For Un grouped data determined by
first arranging the data in order of
magnitude and then selecting the
middle observation e.g. the median
for the value 8, 10, 1, 3 and 5.

Median-Grouped data
Media =

Lm +

N/2 Cfbm
fm

cm

Where
Lm is the lower class boundary of the median
class
N is the total number of observations
CFbm is the cumulative frequency of the class
below the median class
Cm is the class interval of the median class

Advantages/disadvantage
s of the median
Advantages:
Simple to calculate;
It is representative of entire distribution;
It is unique and representative of an actual
figure in the distribution;
Disadvantages:
It cannot be subjected to further processing

Advantages/disadvantage
s of the median
Advantages:
Simple to calculate;
It is representative of entire distribution;
It is unique and representative of an actual
figure in the distribution;
Disadvantages:
It cannot be subjected to further processing

Mode
The Mode is the most common value
in a given range of data
Ungrouped data.
In the following observations, 35, 42,
49, 49, 56, 70. the mode is 49

Mode Grouped data

Lm + D1

x Cm

D1 +D2
Where: Lm is the lower class boundary of the Model class
D1 is the difference between the frequency of the
modal class and frequency of the class before the
modal class.
D2 is the difference between the frequency of the
modal class and frequency of the class after the
modal class.
Cm is the class width of the modal class

Advantages/disadvantages
Advantages:
It is simple
Useful for qualitative data say the most
handsome man;
Disadvantages:
Cannot be called unbiased
Cannot be used to reconstruct the distribution
Can not be further processed
Some distributions are bimodal

Illustration
Class
frequency
400
419
12
439
27
420
459
34
440
479
15
460
480
499
8
Find The Mean, Mode and Median .

Exercise

Class
Frequency
36.0 37.7
6
37.8 39.5
7
39.6 41.3
24
41.4 43.1
7
43.2 44.9
2
45.0 46.7
4
Compute the mean, mode and median for the
above distribution of distance to and from
Work in Kilometers for UMI employees.