Chapter 4

Measures of Central
Tendency and
Variation
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3.1 INTRODUCTION

Why descriptive statistics is important?

Researchers need to become acquainted with

numerical descriptive measures that provide very brief
and easy-to understand summaries of data collection
There are two broad categories into which these
measures fall: measures of central tendency and
measures of variability
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3.1 INTRODUCTION

Describing data numerically

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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Common Measures of Location

any numerical measure intended to represent the

center of a data set.
are single figures which represent the general level of
magnitudes or values of a group of data.
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central Tendency

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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central

Tendency
1. Arithmetic Mean/Mean
most common measure of central tendency.
the sum of all observations divided by the total
number of observations
involves quantitative data
should only be used for interval and ratio data
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central

Tendency
1. Arithmetic Mean/Mean
For a population of values:

=1
Population
values
=
Population size

For a sample of size : Observed

=1 values
=
Sample size
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central

Tendency
1. Arithmetic Mean/Mean
The arithmetic mean of a collection of numerical
values is the sum of these values divided by the
number of values. The symbol for the population
mean is the Greek letter (mu), and the symbol for
a sample mean is (-bar)
A population parameter is any measurable
characteristic of a population.
A sample statistic is any measurable characteristic
of a sample.
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central

Tendency
1. Arithmetic Mean/Mean
Characteristics of the arithmetic mean
1. Every data set measured on an interval or ratio
level has a mean.
2. The mean is sensitive to extreme values.
3. The sum of the deviations of the numbers in a
data set from the mean is always equal to zero.
4. The mean has valuable mathematical properties
that make it convenient to use in the further
computations.
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central

Tendency
1. Arithmetic Mean/Mean
Affected by extreme values (outliers)
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central Tendency

1. Arithmetic Mean/Mean
The mean is increased (decreased) by a constant when
every observation in the data has a constant added
(subtracted) to (from) it. Same logic is applied when having a
constant multiplier/divisor.
Example: Let = 5
Data A +
1 6 5
2 7 10
3 8 15
4 9 20
5 10 25
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central Tendency

2. Median (Md)
The numerical value in the middle when data set is arranged
in order (50% above, 50% below)

Not affected by extreme values

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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central Tendency

2. Median (Md)
Finding the median:
+
Median = = +
or Median =
=

=

+

If the number of values If the number of values is even,

is odd, the median is the median is the average of
the middle number the two middle numbers

+1
Note that , , or + 1 is not the value of the median,
2 2 2
only the position of the median in the ranked data
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central Tendency

2. Median (Md)
Examples:
1. The following are the 1st long exam scores of Stat 21
students: 25, 28, 30, 27, 45, 40, 42, 70, and 79. What is
the median value?
a. Array: 25, 27, 28, 30, 40, 42, 45, 70, 79
b. n=9
c. Md = 9+1 = 5 = 40 pts.
2

Interpretation: There are 5 students who got scores of 40

pts and below, and the other 5 students got scores of 40
pts and above.
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central Tendency

2. Median (Md)
Examples:
2. The following are the 2nd long exam scores of Stat 21
students: 25, 28, 30, 27, 45, 40, 42, 70, 79, and 80.
What is the median value?
a. Array: 25, 27, 28, 30, 40, 42, 45, 70, 79, 80
b. n=10
10 + 10
2 2 +1 5 +6 40+42
c. Md = = = = 41 pts.
2 2 2
Interpretation: There are 5 students who got scores below
41 pts, and the other 5 students got scores above 41 pts.
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Most Common Measures of Central Tendency
3. Mode (Mo)
Value that occurs most often
Not affected by extreme values
Used for either numerical or categorical data
There may be no mode; and there may be several modes

Interpretation: Out of the 13 observations, the value which

occurred the most with 3 observations is the value 9.
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Which measure of location is the best?

Mean is generally used, unless extreme values (outliers)

exist

The median is often used, since the median is not

sensitive to extreme values.
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3.2 MEASURES OF LOCATION

Which measure of location is the best?

Perfectly symmetric Skewed distribution
distribution
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

Measures of variation give

information on the spread or
variability of the data values.

Same center,
different variation
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

1. Range (R)
Simplest measure of variation
Difference between the largest and the smallest
observation:

= =

Example:
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

1. Range (R)
Ignores the way in which data are distributed

Sensitive to outliers
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

2. Average Deviation (Based on the median)
Used when median is the appropriate measure of central
tendency
The average scatter of the values in a distribution from the
median, ignoring the signs of the distribution:
=1
=

Example:
Set A: 3,4,5,6,8,9,10,12,15 Set B: 3,7,7,7,8,8,8,9,15

=1
=1
=
=
38 + 48 ++ 158 38 + 78 ++ 158
= =
9 9
3.11 1.78

Note: Set A and Set B have the same median ( = ) and the same number of
observations ( = ), but different variations.
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

3. Variance
Average of squared deviations of values from the mean
Population variance:
2
2

=1
2 2
=1
=1
= =
2

Sample variance:

2

=1
2 =1 2 =1 2
= =
1 ( 1)
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

4. Standard Deviation
The square root of the variance
Most commonly used measure of variation
Shows variation about the mean
Has the same units as the original data
Population standard deviation:
2

=1
2 2
=1 =1
= 2 = =
2

Sample standard deviation:

2
=1 2 =1 2 =1
= 2 = =
1 ( 1)
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

4. Standard Deviation
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

4. Standard Deviation
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

4. Standard Deviation
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

4. Standard Deviation

Each value in the data set is used in the

calculation

Values far from the mean are given extra weight

(because deviations from the mean are squared)
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

5. Coefficient of Variation
Measure relative variation
Always in percentage (%)
Shows variation relative to mean
Can be used to compare two or more sets of data
measured in different units

= 100% or = 100%


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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

5. Coefficient of Variation
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

5. Coefficient of Variation
More example:
The weight of 10 boxes of a certain brand of cereal
have a mean content of 278 grams with a standard deviation
of 9.64 grams. If these boxes were purchased at 10 different
stores and the average price per box is 34.83 with a
standard deviation of 2.43. Can you conclude that the
weights are relatively more homogeneous than the prices?
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3.3 MEASURES OF VARIATION

Common Measures of Variation

5. Coefficient of Variation
Given: = 278 , = 9.64 ,
= 34.83, = 2.43
Solution:
a. weights of 10 boxes
9.64
= 100% = 100% 3.47%
278
b. prices of 10 boxes
2.43
= 100% = 100% 6.98%
34.83
Interpretation: We can conclude that the weights are relatively
more homogeneous than the prices.