Unit 3 Measures of Central Tendency

At the end of this Unit, the students should be able to:

• State and illustrate the definition of central tendencies for grouped and
ungrouped data
• Apply the formula for calculating the central tendencies

Lesson 1 Central Tendency

The Mean
Mean is also known as the average of given scores in a data set. Also, the most stable
and reliable central tendency.

Ungrouped
The mean of ungrouped data is the sum of all the scores divided by the number of
scores in a data.

∑𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖
𝑥̅ =
𝑛
Example, Compute the mean of the following data: 23, 45, 16, 12, 33
23+45+16+12+33 129
𝑥̅ = = = 25.8
5 5

In general, the weighted mean of a group of numbers or scores designated by

𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛 which occur 𝑤1 , 𝑤2 , … , 𝑤𝑛 respectively is
𝑥1 𝑤1 + 𝑥2 𝑤2 + ⋯ + 𝑥𝑛 𝑤𝑛
𝑥̅ =
𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛

Example compute the weighted arithmetic mean given the following scores: 12, 15, 16,
12, 15, 18, 18, 20, 12, and 18.
On the given above 12 occurs 3 times, 15 occurs twice, 18 is 3 times, 16 once and 20
once.
Now by applying the formula,

12(3)+15(2)+18(3)+16+20 156
𝑥̅ = = = 𝟏𝟓. 𝟔
3+2+3+1+1 10
The Mean for Grouped Data

The formula for arithmetic mean for grouped data is:

∑ 𝑓𝑥
𝑥̅ =
𝑛
Compute the mean given the frequency distribution below:

Classes F X (midpoint) fx
1–3 7 2 14
4–6 12 5 60
7–9 14 8 112
N 33 ∑ 𝑓𝑥 = 186

Applying the formula,

∑ 𝑓𝑥 186
𝑥̅ = = = 5.636
𝑛 33

Coded or Deviation Method

A shorter formula for computing the mean using coding or deviation method. Choose
any class mark denoted by x0 with a corresponding deviation of 0. Then the values of d are the
integers 𝑑 = 0, ±1, ±2, …

∑ 𝑓𝑑
This method is given by the formula 𝑥̅ = 𝑥0 + 𝑖( ), where i is the class interval, x0 is
𝑛
the class mark, f is the frequency and d is the deviation.

Example compute the mean wage using coded or deviation method given the following
table:

Class Wages F X d Fd
450 – 474 4 462 -2 -8
475 – 499 9 487 -1 -9
500 – 524 3 512 0 0
525 – 549 2 537 1 2
550 – 574 2 562 2 4
N 20 -11

Applying the results to the formula,

250 −11
𝑥̅ = 512 + 25 ( ) = 512 + 25 ( ) = 512 − 13.75 = 𝟒𝟗𝟖. 𝟐𝟓
20 20
The Median and Mode

The median of data is the number that divides the bottom half of the data from the top
half. Also, median is a concept of dividing the data into 2 equal parts.

Ungrouped
In ungrouped, arrange the data from highest to lowest or lowest to highest, then
𝑛
apply this formula: 𝑥̃ = + 1 𝑡ℎ, where n is the number of observations. Count from the
2
computed median into the data set from lowest to highest and highest to lowest to
determine the median of a certain data.

Case 1: n is odd number

Example: compute the median given the following scores: 4, 9, 6, 15, 12

Solution:
Arranging the data results into: 4, 6, 9, 12, 15
𝑛 5
Compute the position of the median, 𝑥̃ = 2 + 1𝑡ℎ = 2 + 1 = 2 + 1 = 3𝑟𝑑 (Note:
disregard the decimal, just get the whole number)
By counting 3 to the arranged data, from lowest to highest and highest to lowest,
the median is 9.

Case 2: n is even number

Example: determine the median given the following: 6, 3, 8, 4, 9, 7

Solution:
Arranging the data: 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9
𝑛 6
Compute the position, 𝑥̃ = 2 + 1 = 2 + 1 = 4𝑡ℎ
By counting 4 to the data, from lowest to highest gives 7, while from highest to
lowest is 6, in this scenario, just average the two comes up with 6.5 as our median.

Grouped data
The formula of the median in grouped data is

𝑛
−<𝑐𝑓
2
𝑥̃ = 𝐿𝐿 + 𝑖( ); where, LL is lower limit of the class containing
𝑓𝑚
median, i is the class interval, <cf cumulative frequency in all the classes
preceding the class containing median and fm frequency in the class containing
the median.
Consider the distribution below of statistics scores of 30 students:

Scores Number of students <cf

1–2 3 3
3–4 5 8; <cf = 8
5–6 10; fm=10 18 LL = 4.5
7–8 8 26
9 – 10 4 30
N 30

15−8
The median computed is 𝑥̃ = 4.5 + 2 ( 10
) = 4.5 + 1.4 = 5.9

The results may interpret as, there are 15 students (or 50%) obtained the score of 5.9 less.
Also, the other 15 students obtained the scores of 5.9 or more.

The Mode
Is the most frequently occurring score in the ungrouped data. It is used with scores from
a nominal variable.

Ungrouped
Example: a. 12, 29, 35, 36, 36, 44, 44, 44, 51, 35 – the mode is 44
b. 8, 7, 5, 6, 5, 9, 2, 1, 10, 10, 12 – the mode is 5 and 10
If it is only one mode, called unimodal. If there are two, the mode is called
bimodal. If all the data occurs not more than once, then the data has no mode.

Grouped
The formula for the ungrouped is 𝑥̂ = 3𝑥̃ − 2𝑥̅ (Emperical Method)

Compute the mode if median is 32 and mean is 33.

Solution:
Applying the formula: 𝑥̂ = 3𝑥̃ − 2𝑥̅ = 3(32) − 2(33) = 96 − 66 = 𝟑𝟎