Long questions:-

1. What do you understand by Central Tendency? Illustrate the important

measures of central tendency. Under what conditions is Mean more
suitable than other measures of central tendency?

Ans 1:-

Central Tendency:

Measures of central tendency are a combination of two words i.e. ‘measure’ and
‘Central tendency’. Measure means methods and central tendency means
average value of any statistical series. Thus we can say that central tendency
means the methods of finding out the central value or average value of a
statistical series of quantitative information.

According to Clark “Average is an attempt to find one single figure to describe

whole of figure.”

In the words of A.E. Waugh “An average is a single value selected from a group of
values to represent them in a same way—a value which is supposed to stand for
whole group of which it is a part, as typical of all the values in the group.”

Thus it can be said that an average or central tendency is a single figure that is
computed from a given distribution to give a central idea about the entire series.
The value of the average lies within the maximum and minimum value in the
series.

Uses of Central Tendency:

The central tendency is needed for the following reasons:

1. Average provides the overall picture of the series. We cannot remember each
and every facts relating to a field of enquiry.

2. Average value provides a clear picture about the field under study for guidance
and necessary conclusion.
3. It gives a concise description of the performance of the group as a whole and it
enables us to compare two or more groups in terms of typical performance.

Measures of Central Tendency:

There are three measures of central tendency, such as:

(1) The arithmetic mean.

(2) The Median and

(3) The mode.

a. The Mean (M): For a common man, average means the arithmetic mean. It
is most popularly used because of its simplicity, rigidity etc.

The "mean" is the "average" you're used to, where you add up all the
numbers and then divide by the number of numbers. The "median" is the
"middle" value in the list of numbers.

b. The Median :- Median is the value which occupies the middle position
when all the observations are arranged in an ascending/descending order.
It divides the frequency distribution exactly into two halves.

It is a positional average because its value is determined with reference to

its position in the value column of a series. D. Patri (1996) defines median
“as the value of the middle item of a series arranged in ascending or
descending order. As such it divides a series into two equal parts.”

c. The Mode:- Mode is the most frequently occurring scores in a distribution.

As an average it represents the most typical value of a series which almost
coincides with the existing items. It is never affected by extreme scores but
by the extreme frequencies of the values. To determine mode different
methods are there.
 Conditions in which mean is used: the mean is widely preferred as the best
measure of central tendency because it is the measure that includes all the
values in the data set for its calculation, and any change in any of the scores
will affect the value of the mean.

The mean is usually the best measure of central tendency to use when your
data distribution is continuous and symmetrical, such as when your data is
normally distributed

Geometric Mean:- It is defined as the arithmetic mean of the values taken on a

log scale. It is also expressed as the nth root of the product of an observation.
GM is more commonly used in microbiological and serological research.

Harmonic mean:- It is the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of the

observations. HM is appropriate in situations where the reciprocals of values
are more useful. HM is used when we want to determine the average sample
size of a number of groups, each of which has a different sample size.

2. What do you mean by Median and Mean? Explain their merits and
demerits

Ans 2:- A measure of central tendency is a single value that attempts to describe
a set of data by identifying the central position within that set of data. As such,
measures of central tendency are sometimes called measures of central location.
They are also classed as summary statistics. The mean (often called the average) is
most likely the measure of central tendency that you are most familiar with, but
there are others, such as the median and the mode.

Mean (Arithmetic):- The "mean" is the "average" you're used to, where you add
up all the numbers and then divide by the number of numbers. The "median" is
the "middle" value in the list of numbers. To find the median, your numbers have
to be listed in numerical order from smallest to largest, so you may have to
rewrite your list before you can find the median. The "mode" is the value that
occurs most often. If no number in the list is repeated, then there is no mode for
the list.
An important property of the mean is that it includes every value in your data set
as part of the calculation. In addition, the mean is the only measure of central
tendency where the sum of the deviations of each value from the mean is always
zero.

Merits of Mean:

1. Mean is rigidly defined so that there is no question of misunderstanding

about its meaning and nature.

2. It is the most popular central tendency as it is easy to understand.

3. It is easy to calculate.

4. It includes all the scores of a distribution.

5. It is not affected by sampling so that the result is reliable.

Demerits of Mean:

1. Mean is affected by extreme scores.

2. Sometimes mean is a value which is not present in the series.

3. Sometimes it gives absurd values. For example there are 41, 44 and 42
students in class VIII, IX and X of a school. So the average students per class
are 42.33. It is never possible.

4. In case of open ended class intervals, it cannot be calculated without

assuming the size of the open end classes.

MEDIAN:- Median is the value which occupies the middle position when all the
observations are arranged in an ascending/descending order. It divides the
frequency distribution exactly into two halves.

It is a positional average because its value is determined with reference to its

position in the value column of a series. D. Patri (1996) defines median “as the
value of the middle item of a series arranged in ascending or descending order. As
such it divides a series into two equal parts.”
Merits of Median:

1. It is easy to compute and understand.

2. All the observations are not required for its computation.

3. Extreme scores does not affect the median.

4. It can be determined from open ended series.

5. It can be determined from un-equal class intervals.

Demerits of Median:

1. It is not rigidly defined like mean because its value cannot be computed
but located.

2. It does not include all the observations.

3. It cannot be further treated algebraically like mean.

4. It requires arrangement of the scores or class intervals in ascending or

descending order.

5. Sometimes it produces a value which is not found in the series.

3. Define an Average. Explain essentials of a good Average?

Ans 3:- Averages In statistics, an average is defined as the number that

measures the central tendency of a given set of numbers.

According to Clark, “ An Average is a figure that represents the whole group”

There are a number of different averages including but not limited to: mean,
median, mode and range.
Mean:- Mean is what most people commonly refer to as an average. The mean
refers to the number you obtain when you sum up a given set of numbers and
then divide this sum by the total number in the set. Mean is also referred to
more correctly as arithmetic mean.

Median:- The median is defined as the number in the middle of a given set of
numbers arranged in order of increasing magnitude. When given a set of
numbers, the median is the number positioned in the exact middle of the list
when you arrange the numbers from the lowest to the highest. The median is
also a measure of average. In higher level statistics, median is used as a
measure of dispersion. The median is important because it describes the
behavior of the entire set of numbers.

Mode:- The mode is defined as the element that appears most frequently in a
given set of elements. Using the definition of frequency given above, mode can
also be defined as the element with the largest frequency in a given data set.

For a given data set, there can be more than one mode. As long as those
elements all have the same frequency and that frequency is the highest, they
are all the modal elements of the data set.

Essentials of a good Average:- The fundamental feature of the average is that

it should be easy calculate and simple to follow.

1. Representation: Average should represent the entire mass of data.

2. Rigidly Defined: Averages should be rigidly defined. If it is so, instability in

its value will be no more and would always be a definite figure.

3. Algebraic Treatment: Averages are always capable of further algebraic

treatment.

4. Clear and Stable Definition: A good average should have a clear and
stable definition.

5. Absolute Number: A good average should be an absolute number.

 6. Not affected by skewness: A good average is one which is not affected by
skewness in the distribution. Contrary to this, if it is affected by skewness, it
cannot become a true representative.

7. Based on all values of a variable: An average is said to be a true

preventative only when it is based on all the values of a variable otherwise,
it cannot considered a good average.

8. No Effect of Extreme values: For a good average, it should not be unduly

affected by extreme values.

Short Questions:-

1. Give empirical relationship between mean, median and mode

There is a empirical relationship between the three measures of central

tendency :

3 Median = Mode + 2 Mean

2. Characteristics of a good average?

The fundamental feature of the average is that it should be easy calculate

and simple to follow.

1. Representation: Average should represent the entire mass of data.

2. Rigidly Defined: Averages should be rigidly defined. If it is so, instability in

its value will be no more and would always be a definite figure.

3. Algebraic Treatment: Averages are always capable of further algebraic

treatment.

4. Clear and Stable Definition: A good average should have a clear and
stable definition.
 5. Absolute Number: A good average should be an absolute number.

3. Usefulness of an average
 Representative of the group: An average represents all the features
of a group; hence the results about the whole group can be deduced
from it.
 Brief description: An average gives us simple and brief description of
the main features of the whole data.
 Helpful in comparison: The measures of central tendency or averages
reduce the data to a single value which is highly useful for making
comparative studies. For example, comparing the per capita income
of two countries, we can conclude that which country is richer.
 Helpful in formulation of policies: Averages help to develop a
business in case of a firm or help the economy of a country to
develop.

4. Explain Arithmetic Mean

The "mean" is the "average" you're used to, where you add up all the
numbers and then divide by the number of numbers. The "median" is the
"middle" value in the list of numbers. To find the median, your numbers
have to be listed in numerical order from smallest to largest, so you may
have to rewrite your list before you can find the median. The "mode" is the
value that occurs most often. If no number in the list is repeated, then
there is no mode for the list.

5. Difference between mean and median. Where is each one used?

Mean is the average of given sets of numbers. You should add the numbers
up then divide by the number of the numbers.
A proper application of mean is your grade in a class. The class has 4 tests
each of equal weight and the mean gives you the course grade.
 Median is the number in the middle when you order the numbers in an
ascending order. If there are two numbers in the middle, you should take
the average of those two numbers.

The median can be used as a measure of location when one attaches

reduced importance to extreme values, typically because a distribution is
skewed, extreme values are not known, or outliers are untrustworthy, i.e.,
may be measurement/transcription errors.

Notes :

Mean is the most frequently used measure of central tendency and

generally considered the best measure of it. However, there are some
situations where either median or mode are preferred.

Median:- is the preferred measure of central tendency when:

a. There are a few extreme scores in the distribution of the data.

b. There are some missing or undetermined values in your data.

c. There is an open ended distribution (For example, if you have a data field
which measures number of children and your options are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or
“6 or more,” then the “6 or more field” is open ended and makes
calculating the mean impossible, since we do not know exact values for this
field)

d. You have data measured on an ordinal scale.

Mode:- is the preferred measure when data are measured in a nominal

( and even sometimes ordinal) scale.

Numerical Answers:-

1. (a) 7 (b) 24 (c) 8.5

2. 4.5

3. 5.6

4. 344

5. 9, 11, 17

6. (a) 11.8 (b) 23.15 (c) $196

7. (a) 8 (b) 17

(c) 3 (d) no mode

8. Mean = 39 1/11; Mode = 16;

Median = 16

9. 43, 44

10. 30

11. 10

12. (a) 28 (b) 17.5 (c) 47 (d) 10

13. 18

14. 2, 1