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Chapter 3
Measures of Central
Tendency
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3.1 Introduction
Measures of central tendency (average) helps to condense a
mass of data into a single representative value
An average is a single value intended to represent a data set
as a whole
Best averages are:
based on all the observations
simple to understand and easy to interpret
easily manipulated algebraically
little affected by fluctuations of sampling
should not unduly be influenced by extreme values
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3.2 Objectives of measuring central tendency:
To facilitating comparison within one group or between
groups of data
To enable further statistical analysis.
To get one single value that describes the entire data set
To facilitate comparison between different data sets
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3.3 Types of central tendency
Measures of Central Tendency
Median
Mode
Mean
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3.3.1 Mean (x
Arithmetic mean
Let x1, x2,…xn are the values of a variable X. The
arithmetic mean is:
n
n
f i xi
x i
OR
x i 1
n
x i 1 fi
n i 1
• The population mean is:
X i
N
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Example: The weight (in Kg) of eight youths: 32, 37, 41,
39, 36, 43, 48 and 36. The mean weight is:
n
x i
x i 1
n
= 312/8 = 39
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Arithmetic Mean for Grouped
Frequency Distribution
Wages in birr 11-13 13-15 15-17 17-19 19-21 21-23 23-25
Number of laborers 3 4 5 6 6 4 3
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Weighted Arithmetic mean
used to calculate the average when the relative importance
of the observations differs. This relative importance is
known as weight
If x1, x2, …, xn have weights w1, w2, …, wn, respectively,
then the weighted arithmetic mean becomes:
n
wx i i
xw i 1n
w
i 1
i
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Example: Suppose that a student obtained the following
grades in the first semester of freshman program.
Course Mats Bio Chem Phy Flen
Credit 4 3 3 4 3
hours
Grade A C B B C
wx i i
xw i 1
n
= 49/17 = 2.88
wi
i 1
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Properties of arithmetic mean
Computed for numerical data, it always exists, and unique
It depends on all observations
The sum of deviations of the values from the mean is zero
It is greatly affected by extreme values
It is not greatly affected by fluctuations in sampling
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Geometric mean (GM)
Is useful in finding the average of percentages, ratios, indexes, or rates.
Example: A company’snyear-to-year changes in fuel consumption
GM
expenditures were
5, 10, x1x
20, 2 ...
40 andx60
n percent. Determine the average
yearly percent change in expenditure
Properties of geometric mean
• It depends on all observations
• It is not much affected by extreme values
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3.3.2 The Median ~
x
It is the middle value for data arranged in order of magnitude
Median for raw (ungrouped) data:
n 1 th
obsr , if n is odd
2
1 n
th
n 2
th
Properties of median
obsr , if n is even
2 2 2
• It is an
average of position
• It is affected by the number of observations than by extreme values
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3.3.3 The Mode x̂
It is the most frequent value in the data set
Properties of mode
is easy to calculate and understand
is not affected by extreme values
is not based on all observations
is not used in further analysis of data
is not unique
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The Mean, Median and Mode for
grouped data
Mean
n
n
f i xi
x iOR x i 1
n
x i 1 fi
Where isn
the class mark (class mid point) i 1
xi
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Example: Calculate the mean time spent by automobile
workers.
Time Class mark Number of workers
15.5-16.5 18.5 3
16.5-27.5 24.5 6
27.5-33.5 30.5 8
33.5-39.5 36.5 4
39.5-45.5 42.5 3
45.5-51.5 48.5 1
The mean time spent is 30.74 minutes.
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Median
n
cf
2
Lmed - LCB of median class;
w
•
•
~
fmd – frequency of median class;
x Lmed
w – class width;
f med
• cf – sum of frequencies lower than the median class
• Median class is the class containing the (n/2) th observation
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The Mean, Median and Mode for
grouped data
Example: Find the median for the following frequency distribution.
The median 24.5. Class boundary Frequency
5.5 – 10.5 1
10.5 – 15.5 2
15.5 – 20.5 3
20.5 – 25.5 5
25.5 – 30.5 4
30.5 – 35.5 3
35.5 – 40.5 2
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Mode
f1 f 0
xˆ Lmod w
• f1 – frequency of modal;
• f0 - frequency of the class preceding the modal class;
• f2 – frequency of the class next to the modal class;
• Lmod – LCB of the modal class
2 f1 f 0 f 2
• The modal class is the class with the highest frequency
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Example: Calculate the modal time spent by the automobile
workers.
Time (in Minutes) Number of workers
16-21 3
22-27 6
28-33 8
34-39 4
40-45 3
46-51 1
Total 25
• The mode is 29.5
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3.3.4 Quantiles
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Important Characteristics of a Good Measure of Central
Tendency
We say a measure of central tendency is best if it posses most of
the following. It should:
Be simple to understand and easy to calculate/interpret,
Exist and be unique,
Be rigidly defined by mathematical formula,
Based on all observations,
Not be seriously affected by extreme observations,
Have capable of further statistical analysis and/or algebraic
manipulation.