CMM Subject Support Strand: STATISTICS Unit 1 Measures of Central Tendency: Text
STRAND: STATISTICS
Unit 1 Measures of Central
Tendency
TEXT
Contents
Section
1.1 Mean, Median, Mode and Range
1.2 Finding the Mean from Tables and Tally Charts
1.3 Calculations with the Mean
1.4 Mean, Median and Mode for Grouped Data
CMM Subject Support Strand: STATISTICS Unit 1 Measures of Central Tendency: Text
1 Measures of Central
Tendency
1.1 Mean, Median, Mode and Range
In this unit, you will find out how to calculate statistical quantities which summarise the
important characteristics of data.
The mean, median and mode are three different ways of describing the average.
• To find the mean, add up all the numbers and divide by the number of numbers.
• To find the median, place all the numbers in order and select the middle number.
• The mode is the number which appears most often.
• The range gives an idea of how the data are spread out and is the difference between
the smallest and largest values.
Worked Example 1
Find
(a) the mean (b) the median (c) the mode (d) the range
of this set of data.
5, 6, 2, 4, 7, 8, 3, 5, 6, 6
Solution
(a) The mean is
5+6+2 + 4+ 7+8+3+5+6+6
10
52
=
10
= 5.2
(b) To find the median, place all the numbers in order.
2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8
As there are two middle numbers in this example, 5 and 6,
5+6
median =
2
11
=
2
= 5.5
1
1.1 CMM Subject Support Strand: STATISTICS Unit 1 Measures of Central Tendency: Text
(c) From the list above it is easy to see that 6 appears more than any other number, so
mode = 6
(d) The range is the difference between the smallest and largest numbers, in this case
2 and 8. So the range is 8 − 2 = 6 .
Worked Example 2
Five people play golf and at one hole their scores are
3, 4, 4, 5, 7
For these scores, find
(a) the mean (b) the median (c) the mode (d) the range .
Solution
(a) The mean is
3+ 4+ 4+5+ 7
5
23
=
5
= 4.6
(b) The numbers are already in order and the middle number is 4. So
median = 4
(c) The score 4 occurs most often, so,
mode = 4
(d) The range is the difference between the smallest and largest numbers, in this case
3 and 7, so
range = 7 − 3
= 4
Worked Example 3
In a survey of 10 households, the number of children was found to be
4, 1, 5, 4, 3, 7, 2, 3, 4, 1
(a) State the mode.
(b) Calculate
(i) the mean number of children per household
(ii) the median number of children per household.
(c) A researcher says: "The mode seems to be the best average to represent the data in
this survey." Give ONE reason to support this statement.
2
1.1 CMM Subject Support Strand: STATISTICS Unit 1 Measures of Central Tendency: Text
(d) Calculate the probability that a household chosen at random from those in the
survey would have
(i) exactly 4 children
(ii) more than 4 children.
Solution
(a) Mode = 4 (as its frequency is highest)
(b) (i) Mean = ( 4 + 1 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 7 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1) ÷ 10
34
=
10
= 3.4
(ii) Median: first put the data in numerical order.
1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 7
14243
3+4
median = = 3.5
2
(c) The mode gives the value that occurs most frequently.
3
(d) (i) p( 4 children ) = = 0.3 (4 occurs 3 times)
10
2
(ii) p( more than 4 children) = = 0.2 (5 and 7)
10
Exercises
1. Find the mean, median, mode and range of each set of numbers below.
(a) 3, 4, 7, 3, 5, 2, 6, 10
(b) 8, 10, 12, 14, 7, 16, 5, 7, 9, 11
(c) 17, 18, 16, 17, 17, 14, 22, 15, 16, 17, 14, 12
(d) 108, 99, 112, 111, 108
(e) 64, 66, 65, 61, 67, 61, 57
(f) 21, 30, 22, 16, 24, 28, 16, 17
2. Twenty students were asked their shoe sizes. The results are given below.
8, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4 12 , 7 12 , 6 12 , 8 12 , 10
7, 5, 5 12 8, 9, 7, 5, 6, 8 12 6
For this data, find
(a) the mean (b) the median (c) the mode (d) the range.