Measures of Central Tendency

One of the objectives of analyzing data is to get a single value which

can describe the characteristics of the entire mass of the data which
can be considered as representing the entire distribution. The value
satisfying above criteria is called a ‘Central Value or an Average’.
In statistics, the Average is representative or a typical value of data. It
generally lies somewhere near the centre of the group and that is why
the averages are also termed as Measures of Central Tendency or
Central Value.
It represents the main characteristics of the data.
Very large volume if data cannot be easily numbered & understood,
hence a single value, summarizing features of data are required.
While making conclusions, care has to be taken to study the number
of forces affecting the data.
Requisites of a Good Average:
o It should be based on all observations.
o It should not be affected by extreme values.
o It should be easy to understand and easy to calculate.
o It should be capable of further algebraic treatment.
Measures of Central Tendency

Aithmetic Geometric Harmonic Median Mode

Mean Mean Mean
Averages can be classified as into two groups namely
o Mathematical Averages
o Positional Averages
Mathematical observations are based on all observations & are
calculated using Mathematical formulae’s and can be used for further
statistical treatments.
Mathematical Averages are of 3 types
o Arithmetic mean
o Geometric mean
o Harmonic mean
Positional Averages are based on only some observations & cannot be
used for further statistical treatments. They are also called as
‘Measures of Locations’ as they are placed at specific places in the
entire data.
Positional Averages are of 2 types
o Median
o Mode
Arithmetic Mean
Arithmetic Mean is the most popular measure of Central Tendency. It
is also referred as an average in normal usage.
Mean is calculated by Adding up all observations & dividing by total
number of observations.
Mean is calculated by different methods for
Ungrouped data.
Grouped Data (Discrete)
Grouped Data (Continuous)
Mean for Ungrouped Data
If there are m observations denoted as x1, x2, x3,…,xn of the data set
then arithmetic mean denoted as x1 is calculated as:
x͞ =Sum of Observations/Total no of observations
x͞ = (x1+x2+x3,…+xn )/n
If we use Ʃx= x1+ x2+ x3+…+xn then x͞ =Ʃx/n

Mean for Grouped Data(Discrete Data values)

in grouped data each distinct values such as x1, x2, x3,…,xn is having
different frequencies. In other words, each value xi is repeated fi times
and x2 is repeated f2 times and so on.
We define arithmetic mean x as:
x͞ = f1x1+f2x2+f3x3+…+fnxn/(f1+f2+f3+…+fn )
If Ʃf= f1+f2+f3+…+fn
and Ʃfx= f1x1+f2x2+f3x3+…+fnxn then x͞ =Ʃfi*xi /Ʃf or
x͞ =Ʃfx/N (where N=Ʃf) N represents total observations and Ʃf also
represents total observations.
Mean for Grouped Data(Continuous Data values)
Here the class midpoint is taken as xi and the corresponding frequency
fi is multiplied summation of each fixi is divided by total number of
observations
Xi=class midpoint
x͞ =Ʃ fixi/Ʃf
Examples
1) Find the Arithmetic Mean for the following marks obtained by
10 students in maths test.
64,46,69,84,44,56,65,30,49,58
Solution:
Mean x͞ = (64+46+69+84+44+56+65+30+49+58)/10
=565/10
=56.5
 2) Find the Mean for the following marks obtained by 25 students
in maths internals.
Marks 8 10 15 20
Obtained
No. of 5 8 8 4
Students
Solution:
Marks Obtained No. of Students
X f F*x
8 5 40
10 8 80
15 8 120
20 4 80
25 320
Mean x͞ =Ʃfx/Ʃf
=320/25
=12.8
3) Find the Arithmetic Mean for the following
Class Class Mid- Frequency
Point
X F F*x
0-10 5 7 35
10-20 15 8 120
20-30 25 20 500
30-40 35 10 350
 40-50 45 5 225
N=50 1230
Mean x͞ =Ʃfx/N
=1230/50
=24.6
Assumed Mean(A)
We can also find arithmetic mean by using the below formula of
Assumed Mean
x͞ =A+1/N Ʃi=1(xi-A)
In case of frequency distribution,
x͞ =A+1/N Ʃi=1fi(xi-A)
=A+1/N Ʃi=1fidi
Where di= xi-A
A is the Assumed Mean
Solving example no 3 by Assumed Mean
Solution:
Let the Assumed Mean be A=25
Class Class Mid- Frequency di fi*di
Point
X F (xi-A)
0-10 5 7 5-25=-20 -140
10-20 15 8 15-25=-10 -80
20-30 25 20 25-25=0 0
30-40 35 10 35 – 25=10 100
 40-50 45 5 45-25=20 100
N=50 Total-> -20
∑𝑥=𝑖 𝑓𝑖
Mean x͞ = A+
𝑁

=25+1/50(-20)
=25-0.4
=24.6
Merits(Advantages) of Mean
• It is rigidly defined so that a unique answer will be obtained.
• It is easy to understand and easy to calculate.
• It is based on all observations.
• Further Mathematical treatment is possible on the arithmetic
mean obtained.
• It is less affected by sampling fluctuations.
• If the number of items and their average are known, the sum of
the values of these items can be directly obtained.
Demerits of Arithmetic Mean
• It is affected by extreme values.
• Sometimes it may give absurd results like the average number
of people in an village are 500.4 or 5.4 people in a family.
• It is a value which may not be present in the given data.
1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9
• Its computation requires all, hence if some values are not
known it cannot be calculated.
• In case of open end class intervals, the arithmetic mean
cannot be computed.
Properties of Arithmetic Mean
• If the arithmetic mean x is known, then the sum of the
observations(Ex) can be obtained as the product of the mean
and the total number of observations.
Ʃx=n. x͞ for Ungrouped data
 Ʃx=N. x͞ for Grouped data

• The sum of deviations of individual values of a variable x from

the arithmetic mean x is zero.
Ʃ (xi- x͞ )=0 for Ungrouped data
Ʃfi(xi- x͞ )=0 for Grouped data

• If each of the values of a variable is increased or decreased by

any constant say M, then the arithmetic mean x will also be
increased or decreased by the same constant M
In Mathematical terms, the arithmetic mean is affected by
change of origin and scale.
Exercise:
1) Find the Arithmetic Mean of the heights of std 8th students:
124,133,126,140,141,141,137,122,120 & 130
Mean 131.7

2) Find the Arithmetic Mean of the weights of std 8th students:

53,35,36,41,47,60,46,42,51,50
Mean 46.1
 3) Calculate the Arithmetic Mean for the following observations
a)
X 12 14 16 18 20 22
F 6 9 14 11 9 3
F*x 72 126 224 198 180 66
Mean= 866/52
x F X*F
12 6

14 9
16 14
18 11
20 9
22 3
 b)
Size of 6 7 8 9 10 11
sandals
No of 34 38 50 42 30 27
pairs

x F X*F
6 34

7 38
8 50
9 42
10 30
11 27
c)
X 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
F 11 15 20 16 12 9 4

x F X*F
5 11
6 15
7 20
8 16
9 12
10 9

11 4
d)
X 11 12 13 14 15 16
F 7 10 16 12 10 4

x F X*F
11 7
12 10
13 16
14 12
15 10
16 4
e)
Marks 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
No of 2 4 5 6 12 15 12 11 7 3 1
students

x F X*F
0 2

1 4
2 5
3 6
4 12
5 15

6 12

7 11

8 7

9 3

10 1
f)
X 1 2 3 4 5 6
F 8 9 8 10 13 12

x F X*F
1 8
2 9
3 8
4 10
5 13
6 12
 4) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data
Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50
No of 7 10 14 9 3
Students
F*X 7*5 10*15 14*25 9*35 3*35
Mean=22.2093=22.21
Class x F X*F
0-10 7

10-20 10
20-30 14
30-40 9
40-50 3
 5) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data
Daily 20-40 40-60 60-80 80-100 100-120 120-140
wages in
Rs
No of 8 11 14 15 13 4
workers

Class x F X*F
20-40 8

40-60 11
60-80 14
80-100 15
100-120 13
120-140 4
 6) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data
Age (in Class No of Class Mid F F*X
years) Interval Persons value X
Below 10 0-10 15

Below 20 10-20 30

Below 30 20-30 57

Below 40 30-40 80

Below 50 40-50 97

Below 60 50-60 100

Sum of F*X = 2710
Mean = 2710/100=27.1
 7) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data
Age (in Class No of Class F F*X
years) Interval Persons Mid
value X
Greater 10-20 75
than 10
Greater 20-30 62
than 20
Greater 30-40 57
than 30
Greater 40-50 41
than 40
Greater 50-60 26
than 50
Greater 60-70 14
than 60
Geater 0
than 70
Mean=3125/75=41.6667=41.67
 8) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data
Daily 5-15 15-25 25-35 35-45 45-55
wages
No of 5 6 10 13 5
Persons

Class x F X*F
5-15 5

15-25 6
25-35 10
35-45 13
45-55 5

9) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data(uneven)

Salary in 7000- 8000- 9000- 11000- 15000-
Rs 8000 9000 11000 15000 16000
No of 33 42 56 21 18
Persons
Class x F X*F
7000-8000 33

8000-9000 42
9000-11000 56
11000-15000 21
15000-16000 18
10) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data
Class 20-30 30-50 50-70 70-90 90-100
interval
Frequency 9 15 19 11 5
Class x F X*F
20-30 9

30-50 15
50-70 19
70-90 11
90-100 5

11) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data

Sales in 5-10 10-15 15-25 25-35 35-45 45-50
thousand
of Rs
No of 3 7 11 16 12 4
Shops
Class x F X*F
5-10 3

10-15 7
15-25 11
25-35 16
35-45 12
45-50 4
12) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data
Marks 0-5 5-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-45
No of 6 8 15 10 7 5
boys
Class x F X*F
0-5 6

5-10 8
10-20 15
20-30 10
30-40 7
40-45 5

13) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data

Yield 700- 750- 800- 850- 900- 950-
per 750 800 850 900 950 1000
Acre
No of 33 42 56 21 16 19
Farms
Class x F X*F
700-750 33

750-800 42
800-850 56
850-900 21
900-950 16
950-1000 19
 14) Calculate the distribution of height in cms of 50 students.
Find the mean.
Height in cms 140-145 145-150 150-155 155-160 160-165
No of 7 10 15 12 6
students
Class x F X*F
140-145 7

145-150 10
150-155 15
155-160 12
160-165 6

15) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data

Height 148- 152- 156- 160- 164- 168- 172-
in cms 152 156 160 164 168 172 176
No of 3 6 8 16 9 6 2
persons
Class x F X*F
148-152 3

152-156 6
156-160 8
160-164 16
164-168 9
168-172 6

172-176 2
 16) Calculate the average savings for the following data.
Savings in 0-4000 4000- 8000- 12000- 16000-
Rs 8000 12000 16000 20000
No of 8 10 12 6 4
Employees
Class x F X*F
0-4000 8

4000-8000 10
8000-12000 12
12000-16000 6
16000-20000 4
17) The following data gives the consumption of electricity.
Calculate the average consumption.
No of units No of consumers
0-200 8
200-400 17
400-600 28
600-800 36
800-1000 30
1000-1200 24
1200-1400 18
1400-1600 11
Class x F X*F
0-200 8

200-400 17
400-600 28
600-800 36
800-1000 30
1000-1200 24

1200-1400 18

1400-1600 11
18) The following data represents age distribution of 72
employees of the company. Calculate the average age.
Age in 20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 40-45 45-50 50-55
yrs
No of 8 12 20 16 9 4 3
persons
Class x F X*F
20-25 8

25-30 12
30-35 20
35-40 16
40-45 9
45-50 4

50-55 3
 19) Calculate the average tax for the following data:
Tax in Rs No of employees
1000-3999 12
4000-6999 21
7000-9999 24
10000-12999 36
13000-15999 16
16000-18999 6
Class x F X*F
999.5-3999.5 2499.5 12

3999.5-6999.5 5499.5 21
6999.5-9999.5 8499.5 24
9999.5-12999.5 11499.5 36
12999.5-15999.5 14499.5 16
15999.5-18999.5 17499.5 6
 20) Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data
No of units produced No of Factories
50-99 5
100-149 8
150-199 10
200-249 16
250-299 12
300-349 8
350-399 2
Class x F X*F
49.5-99.5 74.5 5
99.5-149.5 124.5 8
149.5-199.5 174.5 10
199.5-249.5 224.5 16
249.5-299.5 274.5 12
299.5-349.5 324.5 8

349.5-399.5 374.5 2
 21) Mean weight of 50 boys in a class was 52kg. Two new boys
with weights 54kg & 51kg were admitted in the class. Find the
new average weight of 52 boys.

22) If the average marks of students are 26.75, find the number
of students belonging to the class interval 10-20
Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50
No of 3 x- 15 10 5
students
Class x F X*F
0-10 5 3

10-20 15 X
20-30 25 15
30-40 35 10
40-50 45 5

Mean=sum of fx/sum of f
26.75=(965+15x)/(33+x)=26.75*(33+x)=965+15x
882.75+26.75x=965+15x
11.75x=82.25
X=7
 23) If the average wages are 732.50, find the number of
workers with wages in range of 800-1000
Daily 200- 400- 600-800 800- 1000- 1200-
wages 400 600 1000 1200 1400
No of 10 18 22 x- 11 5
workers
X 300 500 700 900 1100 1300
F*x 3000 9000 15400 900x 12100 6500
Class X F X*F
200-400 300 10

400-600 500 18
600-800 700 22
800-1000 900 X
1000-1200 1100 11
1200-1400 1300 5

732.5=(46000+900x)/(66+x)
732.5*66+732.5x=46000+900x
48345 – 46000 = 900x – 732.5x
2345 = 167.5
X=2345/167.7
X=14
 24) Find the missing frequencies if the mean is 21.9 and the
total frequency is 75.
Class 0-5 5-10 10-15 15-20 20-25 25- 30-35 35-40
interval 30
Frequency 2 5 x- 13 21 16 y- 3
X 2.5 7.5 12.5 17.5 22.5 27.5 32.5 37.5
F*x 5 37.5 12.5x 227.5 472.5 440 32.5y 112.5
Class x F X*F
0-5 2.5 2

5-10 7.5 5
10-15 12.5 X
15-20 17.5 13
20-25 22.5 21
25-30 27.5 16

30-35 32.5 Y

35-40 37.5 3

X+Y+ 60 = 75
X+y=15 ------ 1
X = 15 -y
21.9=(1295+12.5x+32.5y)/(60+x+y)
1314 + 21.9x + 21.9y = 1295 + 12.5x + 32.5y
9.4x – 10.6y = - 19 -------- 2
9.4(15-y_ - 10.6y = -19
-9.4y +141 – 10.6y = -19
-20y = -160
Y=8
X=7 y=8
 25) Explain the Merits and Demerits of Arithmetic Mean
Merits(Advantages) of Mean
• It is rigidly defined so that a unique answer will be obtained.
• It is easy to understand and easy to calculate.
• It is based on all observations.
• Further Mathematical treatment is possible on the arithmetic
mean obtained.
• It is less affected by sampling fluctuations.
• If the number of items and their average are known, the sum of
the values of these items can be directly obtained.
Demerits of Arithmetic Mean
• It is affected by extreme values.
• Sometimes it may give absurd results like the average number
of people in an village are 500.4 or 5.4 people in a family.
• It is a value which may not be present in the given data.
1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9
• Its computation requires all, hence if some values are not
known it cannot be calculated.
In case of open end class intervals, the arithmetic mean cannot be
computed.
 26) Explain the properties of Arithmetic Mean.
Properties of Arithmetic Mean
• If the arithmetic mean x is known, then the sum of the
observations(Ex) can be obtained as the product of the mean
and the total number of observations.
Ʃx=n. x͞ for Ungrouped data
Ʃx=N. x͞ for Grouped data

• The sum of deviations of individual values of a variable x from

the arithmetic mean x is zero.
Ʃ (xi- x͞ )=0 for Ungrouped data
Ʃfi(xi- x͞ )=0 for Grouped data

• If each of the values of a variable is increased or decreased by

any constant say M, then the arithmetic mean x will also be
increased or decreased by the same constant M
In Mathematical terms, the arithmetic mean is affected by
change of origin and scale.