 Q1.

Define the different measures of central

tendency, i.e. mean , median and mode.
 Q2. Compute arithmetic mean ,median and
mode from ungrouped data.
 Q3. Compute arithmetic mean ,median and
mode from grouped data.
 Q4. Explain merits and demerits of different
measures of central tendency.
 When a series of observations have been
tabulated in the form of a frequency
distribution it becomes necessary to convert
the series into a single value, which describes
the characteristics of that distribution.
 It is called ‘measure of central tendency’ or
‘statistical average.’ All data and values are
clustered around it.
 These values enable comparisons between
one series of observations and another.
 Mode
 The observation which occurs most frequently in
a series, is known as mode.
 The mode is the observed value that occurs with
the greatest frequency
 If two scores occur with equal frequency then the
distribution is bi-modal
 The mode is totally un-influenced by extreme
scores

Mode from empirical formula = 3 x Median- 2 x

Mean
Median
 When the observations are arranged in the ascending
or descending order of magnitude the middle most
value is known as median.
 It divides the frequency distribution in half when all
the scores are listed in order
 When the distribution has an odd number of elements
the median is the middle one
 When it has a even number of elements the median
lies halfway between the two middle scores
 For example, 6,9,15,17,24 the median would be 15;
but if the distribution were 6, 9, 15, 17,24, 29 the
median would be 16(average of 15 and 17).
 Arithmetic mean
 It is the sum of all observations divided by the
number of observations
 It is commonly known as average
 It is represented by mu in a population and x bar
in a sample
 Unlike other measures of central tendency mean
responds to the exact value of every score in the
distribution
 It is very sensitive to extreme scores
 It has a desirable property that repeat samples
have similar means;
 FOR UNGROUPED DATA:
 Problem 1 :Calculate the average length of
stay of patients in a hospital from the
following data
No. of days in hospital No. of patients
1 25
2 40
3 65
4 55
5 16
6 5
7 2
No. of days in hospital No. of patients Total no. of days (fx)
(x)
1 15 1 x 15=15
2 40 2 x 40=80
3 65 3 x 65=195
4 55 4 x 55=220
5 16 5 x 16=80
6 5 6 x 5=30
7 2 7 x 2=14
Total 198 634
 Average length of stay of patients in hospital
= 634/ 198 = 3.2 days
 FOR GROUPED DATA :
 Data are arranged in groups and frequency
distribution table prepared
 Mean value of each group is multiplied by
frequency
 Sum of the product value is divided by total
number of observations
 Mean such obtained is called ‘weighted mean’
 Calculate the mean age of marriage for girls
in an urban area from the following data :

Age at marriage Number of girls

10-14 5
15-19 25
20-24 30
25-29 10
30-34 5
35-39 1
Age at marriage Number of girls Mid-value of Total age(in
age group years) of each
group
10-14 5 12 5x12=
15-19 25 17 25x17=
20-24 30 22 30x22=
25-29 10 27 10x27=
30-34 5 32 5x32=
35-39 1 37 1x37=
Total 76 ?
 Mean age at marriage = ?/76 =?
 Geometric mean : When data containing a few
extremely large or small values the geometric
mean is a suitable average. It is the nth root
of the product of observations. For an
ungrouped data x1,x2, x3, x4…..xn the
geometric mean will be
 G. M. =NTH ROOT OF THE PRODUCT OF X…
xn.
Merits Demerits
Rigidly defined Can be used for quantitative data
only
Based on all observations

Easy to calculate Unduly affected by observations

having extreme values
Least affected by sampling
fluctuation, hence more stable

Can be used for further

mathematical calculation
Merits
Not affected by extreme values
Applicable for both quantitative
and qualitative data
Demerits
Affected more by sampling
fluctuations
Not rigidly defined
Not capable for further
mathematical calculations
Merits Demerits

Not affected by extreme observations Not rigidly defined

Applicable for both quantitative and Not capable for further mathematical
qualitative data calculations
 Measures of dispersion help us to find how
individual observations are dispersed around or
scattered around the mean of a large series of
data.

 There are 3 important measures of dispersion(or

variability): Range, variance and standard
deviation

 RANGE
 It means the difference between the highest and
lowest value. It defines the normal value of a
biological characteristic.
 SBP and DBP in mm Hg of 10 medical
students are as follows:140/70, 120/88,
160/90,140/80, 110/70, 90/60, 124/64,
100/62, 110/70 and 154/90.

 Find out the range of systolic and diastolic

B.P.
 Range of systolic B.P.=160-90=?

 Range of diastolic B.P. =90-60=?

 The deviation score of a given element is
found by subtracting the mean of the
distribution from the element
 For example, in a distribution with a mean of
16, an element 23 would have a deviation
score of (23-16)=7.
 The sum of the deviation scores in a
distribution is 0.
 Variance is the mean of the squares of the
deviation scores in the distribution
 Variance was the mean of squares of the
deviation scores
 Standard deviation is the square root of the mean
of squares
 In simple terms it is known as “ Root-Mean-
Square-Deviation”
 In other words it is the square root of variance
 It is measured in the same units as the original
data
 Standard deviation of a sample is ‘S’ or ‘SD’ and
that of a population is sigma. The standard
deviation is calculated from the basic formula:
 When the sample size is more than 30, the
above basic formula may be used without any
modification
 For smaller samples the above formula tends
to underestimate the standard deviation and
therefore needs correction which is done by
substituting the denominator
 The standard deviation is particularly useful
for normal distributions
 The area under the curve is constant for a
given number of standard deviations above or
below the mean of the distribution
 Approximately 68% values falls within + or –
one standard deviation of the mean;
 95% values fall within +or- two standard
deviations;
 99.7% values fall within + or – three standard
deviations.
 Mean deviation is defined as average
deviations of observations from mean value.

 Mean deviation= summation of (observation-

mean)/no. of observations
 Find out the mean deviation of incubation
period (in days) of measles of 7 children,
which are as follows: 10, 9, 11, 7, 8, 9, 9.
Incubation period (in Mean (x) Deviation
days)
10 Total/no. of 10-9=
9 observations=9 9-9=
11 11-9=
7 7-9=
8 8-9=
9 9-9=
9 9-9=
Total= Total(ignoring = or –
signs)
 Mean deviation= summation of deviations/n
=6/7=? (in days)
 Calculate the mean
 Calculate the difference between each
observation and mean
 Square the differences
 Sum the squared values
 Divide the sum by the number of
observations to get ‘mean square deviation’
 Find the square root
 Pulse rate of 12 individuals are as follows: 58,
66, 70, 74, 80, 86, 90, 100, 79, 96, 88, 97.

 Calculate the standard deviation

 Table _
observation Mean(x) deviation Square of
deviations
58 Total(?)/n -24 576
66 -16 256
70 -12
74 -8
80 -2
86 4
90 8
100 18
79 -3
96 14
88 6
97 15 225
Total=? Total=
 TOTAL=1912

 STANDARD DEVIATION=
 The Obstetrics Department of Ramkrishna
Mision Seva Pratisthan, Kolkata performed the
following number of caesarean sections in
each month in the year 2008 :
 15, 18, 25,25, 40, 25, 18, 25, 21, 30, 33, 25

 Calculate the Mean, Median and mode of

monthly Caesarean Sections.
 The following are the daily iron intake of
ante-natal mothers from a certain village:

 11.5, 12.5, 8.5, 22.0, 28.0, 25.0, 14.0, 22.0,

10.0, 22.0

 Calculate the mean , median and mode and

give your comments.
THANK YOU