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Chapter 3 Measures of Central Tendency
Chapter 3 Measures of Central Tendency
We can get a better understanding of a data set if we can locate the middle or centre of the
data, and also get an indication of its spread or dispersion. Knowing one of these without the
other is often of little use.
There are three statistics that are used to measure the centre of a dataset. They are the mode,
the mean and the median.
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CHAPTER 3 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
where X denotes the value of the variable for each class and F denotes the class
frequency.
Example 3.4.1:
X F FX
6 1 6 N = 11
7 4 28 X FX / N
8 3 24
9 2 18 = 110/11
34 1 34 = 10
Total 11 110
Additional Examples
Example 3.4.2
The number of faulty products returned to an electrical goods store over a 21 day period is:
3 4 4 9 8 8 6 4 7 9 1 3
5 3 5 9 8 6 3 7 1
For this data set, find the: a. mean b. median c. mode d. 60th percentile
Solutions
3 4 4 9 8 8 .........1 113
_
a. mean x 5.38 faulty products
21 21
n 1
b. Median = as n 21, 11 , therefore from the ordered set:
2
113333444556677888999 the 11th score is 5.
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CHAPTER 3 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
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CHAPTER 3 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
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CHAPTER 3 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
Example 3.8.1: Estimate the median for the data in Example 1.11.2 on roller bearings.
Diameters of a set of roller bearings
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CHAPTER 3 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
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CHAPTER 3 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
Example 3.11.1: Estimate the mode for the data in Example 1.11.2 on roller bearings.
Diameters of a set of roller bearings
Diameter Number of
(nearest bearings
mm) (F) Modal class is 30 – 39
10 - 19 7 LL = 29.5
20 - 29 16 W = 10
30 - 39 30 d1 = 30 - 16 = 14
40 - 49 14 d2 = 30 - 14 = 16
50 - 59 8
60 - 69 3
70 - 79 2 Mo = 29.5 + 10*14/(14 + 16)
Total 80 = 34.2 mm
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CHAPTER 3 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
Tutorial exercises
1. The following data shows the purchase price of each vehicle in a company’s fleet in
kina (X): 1,700; 2,000; 3,000; 3,000; 8,100; 1,500; 2,000; 2,800; 3,000; 3,700; 1,700;
2,000; 6,500; 2,900; 3,000; 4,200.
(a) Define a variable, Y = X/100 and calculate the mean, median and mode values for Y.
(b) Use the answers in (a) to calculate the mean, median and mode values for X.
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