Chapter 3

Measures of Central Tendency

McGraw-Hill, Bluman, 5th ed, Chapter

3

Chapter 3 Overview
Introduction

3-1 Measures of Central Tendency

3-2 Measures of Variation

Bluman, Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Objectives
1. Summarize data using measures of
central tendency.
2. Describe data using measures of
variation.

Bluman, Chapter 3

Introduction
Traditional Statistics
Average
Variation

Bluman, Chapter 3

3.1 Measures of Central Tendency

A statistic is a characteristic or measure

obtained by using the data values from a
sample.

A parameter is a characteristic or
measure obtained by using all the data
values for a specific population.

Bluman, Chapter 3

What is a measure of Central

Tendency?
Numbers that describe what the average
of the distribution is
You can think of this value as where the
middle of a distribution lies.

Measures of Central Tendency

General Rounding Rule
The basic rounding rule is that rounding
should not be done until the final answer is
calculated. Use of parentheses on
calculators or use of spreadsheets help to
avoid early rounding error.

Bluman, Chapter 3

Measures of Central Tendency:

Mean

The mean is the quotient of the sum of

the values and the total number of values.
X

The symbol
X 1 X 2 isX 3used
L for
X n sample
X mean.
X

For a population, the Greek letter (mu)

is used Xfor
the mean.
X
1 X 2 X3 L X N

Bluman, Chapter 3

Example 3-1: Days Off per Year

The data represent the number of days off per
year for a sample of individuals selected from
nine different countries. Find the mean.
20, 26, 40, 36, 23, 42, 35, 24, 30
X1 X 2 X 3 L X n
X

X
n

The mean number of days off is ___ years.

Bluman, Chapter 3

Measures of Central Tendency:

Mean for Grouped Data
fidi
X = AM +

Where:
AM= Assumed mean (Xmid of the class interval assumed to be containing the mean)
F= frequency of a class interval
d= number of deviations of the class intervals from the assumed mean
i= size of the class intervals
N= total number of scores
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Measures of Central Tendency:

Mean for Grouped Data
fidi
X = AM +

where
xi - xA
d=
i

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Measures of Central Tendency:

Mean for Grouped Data

The mean for grouped data is calculated

by multiplying the frequencies and
midpoints of the classes.

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Example 3-3: Miles Run

Below is a frequency distribution of miles
run per week. Find the mean.
Class Boundaries Frequency
5.5 - 10.5
10.5 - 15.5
15.5 - 20.5
20.5 - 25.5
25.5 - 30.5
30.5 - 35.5
35.5 - 40.5

1
2
3
5
4
3
2
f = 20
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Example 3-3: Miles Run

Class Intervals

6-10
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40

Frequency, f Midpoint, Xm
1
2
3
5
4
3
2
f = 20

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8
13
18
23
28
33
38

f Xm
8
26
54
115
112
99
76
f Xm =

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Measures of Central Tendency:

Median

The median is the midpoint of the data

array. The symbol for the median is MD.

The median will be one of the data values

if there is an odd number of values.

The median will be the average of two

data values if there is an even number of
values.
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Example 3-4: Hotel Rooms

The number of rooms in the seven hotels in
downtown Pittsburgh is 713, 300, 618, 595,
311, 401, and 292. Find the median.
Sort in ascending order.
292, 300, 311, 401, 596, 618, 713

Select the middle value.

MD = 401

The median is 401 rooms.

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Example 3-6: Tornadoes in the U.S.

The number of tornadoes that have
occurred in the United States over an 8year period follows. Find the median.
684, 764, 656, 702, 856, 1133, 1132, 1303

Find the average of the two middle values.

656, 684, 702, 764, 856, 1132, 1133, 1303

764 856 1620

MD

810
2
2

The median number of tornadoes is 810.

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Median for grouped data

( N / 2) Cf
Median L
i
f
Where:
L = lower real limit of the median class
N = total number of scores in the distribution
Cf = cumulative frequency of the class interval before reaching the median
class starting from the lowest class interval
f = frequency of the class interval containing the median
i = size of the class interval

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Measures of Central Tendency:

Mode

The mode is the value that occurs most

often in a data set.

It is sometimes said to be the most typical

case.

There may be no mode, one mode

(unimodal), two modes (bimodal), or
many modes (multimodal).
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Example 3-9: NFL Signing Bonuses

Find the mode of the signing bonuses of
eight NFL players for a specific year. The
bonuses in millions of dollars are
18.0, 14.0, 34.5, 10, 11.3, 10, 12.4, 10

You may find it easier to sort first.

10, 10, 10, 11.3, 12.4, 14.0, 18.0, 34.5

Select the value that occurs the most.

The mode is 10 million dollars.
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Example 3-10: Coal Employees in PA

Find the mode for the number of coal employees
per county for 10 selected counties in
southwestern Pennsylvania.
110, 731, 1031, 84, 20, 118, 1162, 1977, 103, 752

No value occurs more than once.

There is no mode.

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Example 3-11: Licensed Nuclear

Reactors
The data show the number of licensed nuclear
reactors in the United States for a recent 15-year
period. Find the mode.
104 104 104 104 104 107 109 109 109 110
109 111 112
112111
111109
109

104 and 109 both occur the most. The data set
is said to be bimodal.
The modes are 104 and 109.
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Example 3-12: Miles Run per Week

Find the modal class for the frequency distribution
of miles that 20 runners ran in one week.
Class

Frequency

5.5 10.5

10.5 15.5

15.5 20.5

20.5 25.5

25.5 30.5

30.5 35.5

35.5 40.5

The modal class is

20.5 25.5.
The mode, the midpoint
of the modal class, is
23 miles per week.

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Mode for Grouped Data

d1
Mo = Lmo +

d1 + d 2
Where :
Mo =mode
L = lower class boundary of the modal class
d1= difference between the frequency of the modal class and the frequency of the
class next lower in value
d2= difference between the frequency of the modal class and the frequency of the
class next higher in value
Bluman, Chapter 3
i= class width

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The following is the distribution of length of service in years

of 50 employees of United Laboratories Inc.
Length of Service
(Years)

Number of Employees

1-5

6-10

11-15

12

16-20

13

21-25

26-30

31-35

Compute for the mean, median and mode.

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Answers:

x = 810/50
= 16.2

; 18 + [(-18/50) 5]

Mdn = 15.5 + {[(50/2)-24] / 13}5

= 15.88

Mo = 15.5 + {[1/ (1+7)] 5}

= 16.13
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The following is a frequency distribution of an entrance

examination. Compute the measures of central tendency.
Scores

Number of Employees

21-30

31-40

11

41-50

15

51-60

18

61-70

20

71-80

12

81-90

91-100

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Answers:

x = 5930 / 100
= 59.3

Mdn = 50.5 + {[(100/2) -34] / 18}10

= 59.39

Mo = 60.5 + [2/ (2+8)]10

= 62.5
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Measures of Central Tendency:

Weighted Mean

Find the weighted mean of a variable by

multiplying each value by its
corresponding weight and dividing the
sum of the products by the sum of the
weights.

w1 X 1 w2 X 2 L wn X n
X

w1 w2 L wn
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wX
w

Example 3-17: Grade Point Average

A student received the following grades. Find
the corresponding GPA.
Course

Credits, w

Grade, X

English Composition

A (4 points)

Introduction to Psychology

C (2 points)

Biology

B (3 points)

Physical Education

D (1 point)

wX

X
w

3 4 3 2 4 3 2 1 32

2.7
33 4 2
12

The grade point average is 2.7.

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Properties of the Mean

Uses all data values.
Varies less than the median or mode
Used in computing other statistics, such as
the variance
Unique, usually not one of the data values
Cannot be used with open-ended classes
Affected by extremely high or low values,
called outliers

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Properties of the Median

Gives the midpoint
Used when it is necessary to find out
whether the data values fall into the upper
half or lower half of the distribution.
Affected less than the mean by extremely
high or extremely low values.

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Properties of the Mode

Used when the most typical case is
desired
Easiest to compute
Can be used with nominal data
Not always unique or may not exist

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Considerations for Choosing a

Measure of Central Tendency

For a nominal variable, the mode is the only

measure that can be used.
For ordinal variables, the mode and the median
may be used. The median provides more
information (taking into account the ranking of
categories.)
For interval-ratio variables, the mode, median,
and mean may all be calculated. The mean
provides the most information about the
distribution, but the median is preferred if the
distribution is skewed.

Measure of Central
Tendency

Advantages

Disadvantages

Mean

All the data are used

to find the central
tendency

Can be affected by
outliers

Median

Very big and very

small values dont
affect it

Takes a long time to

calculate for a very
large set of data

Mode

The only measure of

1. There may be
central tendency to be
more than one
used for nonmode
numerical data
2. There may be no
mode at all
3. It may not
accurately
represent the data

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The values of 19 houses in San Marcelino

Street are as follows:
Value per house

a.
b.

Number of Houses

Php 300,000

Php 700,000

Php 900,000

Php 1,100,000

Find the mean and median values of these houses.

Which measure of central tendency is most suitable for this set?
Why?

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Distributions

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Assignment:
Quiz tomorrow:
Measures of Central
tendency

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