Chapter 3.

DATA MANAGEMENT

Lesson 2. Measure of Central Tendency and Measure of Dispersion

Measure of Central Tendency

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. Compute and interpret the different measures of central tendency.
2. Compare the different measures of central tendency.
3. Apply to real life situations.

A measure of central tendency is any single value that is used to identify the “center” of the data or the
typical value.

1. Mean (X) (Arithmetic Mean)

X=
∑ xi
The sum of all the values of the observations divided by the number of observation n , where in is
the number of observations in the sample.

Example:

What is the mean age of group children whose ages are 9, 11, 7, 10, 9, 8, 8, 7, 12, 7 and 13?

9+11+7+10+ 9+8+8+ 7+12+7+13 101

X́ = ¿ =9.18
11 11

2. Median ( ~X )
 The positional middle of an array
 In an array, one-half of the values precede the median and one-half follow it.

The first step in calculating the median, denoted by ( ~X ) , is to arrange the data in an array. Let
X (i )
the ith observation in the array, i = 1, 2, … N
( N + 1) ( N + 1)
If N is odd, the median position equals 2 , and the value of the 2 th observation in the array

~
X=x N+1
is taken as the median, i.e. 2

If N is even, the mean of the two middle values in the array is the median, i.e.

x N + xN + 1
~
X= 2 2
2
Example:

Find the median of the given data set: 75, 67, 71, 75, and 72

67, 71, 72, 75, 75

~
X =72

3. Mode ( X^ )
 It is the observed value the occurs most frequently.
 It locates the point where the observation values occur with the greatest density.
 It does not always exist, and if it does, it may not be unique. A data set is said to be unimodal if there is
only one mode, bimodal if there are two modes, multimodal if there three or more.
 It is not affected by extreme values.
 It can be used for qualitative as well as quantitative data.

Example: Identify the mode (s) of the following data sets.

a. 2, 5, 2, 3, 5, 2, and 1 ^
X =2

b. 2, 5, 5, 2, 2, 5, 1, 3, 5, 4, 2, 5, 5, and 2 ^
X =5

c. 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 1, 4, 4, 5, 5, and 5 ^
X =1 ,2 , 3 ,∧5

Measures of Dispersion

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the lesson the students will be able to:
1. Compute and interpret the different measures of dispersion/variability.
2. Compare the different measures of dispersion.
3. Discuss the characteristics of the samples based on their measures of dispersion.
4. Made generalizations from a given set of data.
5. Apply to real life situations.

Measures of dispersion/variability indicate the extent to which individual items in a series are scattered
about an average. It is used to determine the extent of the scatter so that steps may be taken to control the
existing variation. It is also used as a measure of reliability of the average value.

1. Range
 The range of a set of measurements is the difference between the largest and the smallest values.
Range ( R ) = Maximum value - Minimum value

Example: The IQ scores of 5 members of CHMSC Basketball men varsity are 108, 112, 127, 116, and 113.

Find the range.

R = 127 – 108 = 19

2. The Standard Deviation and the Variance

2 ∑ ( X i − X )2
s =
The sample variance s2, where n−1 and the sample standard deviation s, where
2
∑ ( Xi − X )
s=
√ n−1
Example:

A sample of 5 households showed the following number of household members: 3, 8, 5, 4, and 4.

Find the variance and standard deviation.

X X́ X − X́ ( X − X́ )2

3 4.8 -1.8 3.24

8 4.8 3.2 10.24
5 4.8 0.2 0.04
14.8 𝑠 = ξ 3 .7
4 4.8 -0.8 0.64 𝑠2 =
5−1
4 4.8 -0.8 0.64
14.8 𝑠 = 1.92
∑ X=¿ ¿24 ∑ ( X− X́ ) 2=¿ 14.8 𝑠2 =
4 Standard Deviation

𝑠2 =3.7 Variance
X́ =
∑ X = 24 =
n 5
4.8
GECMAT (Mathematics in the Modern World)

Activity 2. Measure of Central Tendency and Measure of Dispersion

Name: ____________________________ Date: _______ Course /Section: _______Score: ______

1. A random sample of employees from Carlos Hilado Memorial State College pledged the following donations
to the projects of the Faculty Association:

P 200 250 500 750 250

1000 1250 1500 700 750
750 2000 1000 1250 1250
250 750 250 1200 250
500 1250 750 500 1200

Find the Mean, Median and Mode

2. Consider the sample 21, 16, 25, 20, 23, 19, 22 and 22. Find the (a) Range, (b) Variance and (c) Standard
Deviation.

3. A certain department store had the following daily number of RTW dresses sold during a 6-day period: 60,
75, 32, 67, 85, and 79. Find the variance and standard deviation.