Fatimah Az Zahro

18202241016/PBI A
STAT LT A

Measures of central tendency 

Measures of central tendency help you find the middle, or the average, of a data set. The 3 most
common measures of central tendency are the mode, median, and mean.

 Mode: the most frequent value.

 Median: the middle number in an ordered data set.

 Mean: the sum of all values divided by the total number of values.

In addition to central tendency, the variability and distribution of your data set is important to
understand when performing descriptive statistics.

Mode
The mode is the most frequently occurring value in the data set. It’s possible to have no mode, one
mode, or more than one mode. To find the mode, sort your data set numerically or categorically and
select the response that occurs most frequently.

Example: Finding the mode

In a survey, you ask 9 participants whether they identify as conservative, moderate, or liberal. To
find the mode, sort your data by category and find which response was chosen most frequently. To
make it easier, you can create a frequency table to count up the values for each category.

Political ideology Frequency

Conservative 2

Moderate 3

Liberal 4

Mode: Liberal

The mode is easily seen in a bar graph because it is the value with the highest bar.
When to use the mode

The mode is most applicable to data from a nominal level of measurement. Nominal data is classified
into mutually exclusive categories, so the mode tells you the most popular category.

For continuous variables or ratio levels of measurement, the mode may not be a helpful measure of
central tendency. That’s because there are many more possible values than there are in a nominal or
ordinal level of measurement. It’s unlikely for a value to repeat in a ratio level of measurement.

Example: Ratio data with no mode

You collect data on reaction times in a computer task, and your data set contains values that are all
different from each other.

Participant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Reaction time (milliseconds) 267 345 421 324 401 312 382 298 303

In this data set, there is no mode, because each value occurs only once.

Median
The median of a data set is the value that’s exactly in the middle when it is ordered from low to high.

Example: Finding the median

You measure the reaction times of 7 participants on a computer task and categorize them into 3
groups: slow, medium or fast.

Participant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Speed Medium Slow Fast Fast Medium Fast Slow

To find the median, you first order all values from low to high. Then, you find the value in the middle
of the ordered data set – in this case, the value in the 4th position.

Ordered data set Slow Slow Medium Medium Fast Fast Fast

Median: Medium

In larger data sets, it’s easier to use simple formulas to figure out the position of the middle value in
the distribution. You use different methods to find the median of a data set depending on whether
the total number of values is even or odd.

Median of an odd-numbered data set

For an odd-numbered data set, find the value that lies at the (n+1)/2 position, where n is the
number of values in the data set.

Example:

You measure the reaction times in milliseconds of 5 participants and order the data set.

Reaction time (milliseconds) 287 298 345 365 380

The middle position is calculated using (n+1)/2, where n = 5.

(5+1)/2 = 3

That means the median is the 3rd value in your ordered data set.

Median: 345 milliseconds

Median of an even-numbered data set

For an even-numbered data set, find the two values in the middle of the data set: the values at
the n/2 and (n/2) + 1 positions. Then, find their mean.

Example:

You measure the reaction times of 6 participants and order the data set.

Reaction time (milliseconds) 287 298 345 357 365 380

The middle positions are calculated using n/2 and (n/2) + 1, where n = 6.

6/2 = 3

(6/2) + 1 = 4

That means the middle values are the 3rd value, which is 345, and the 4th value, which is 357.

To get the median, take the mean of the 2 middle values by adding them together and dividing by
two.

(345 + 357)/2 = 351

Median: 351 milliseconds

Mean
The arithmetic mean of a data set is the sum of all values divided by the total number of values. It’s
the most commonly used measure of central tendency because all values are used in the calculation.

Example: Finding the mean

Participant 1 2 3 4 5

Reaction time (milliseconds) 287 345 365 298 380

First you add up the sum of all values:

⅀x = 287 + 345 + 365 + 298 + 380 = 1675

Then you calculate the mean using the formula ⅀x/n. There are 5 values in the dataset, so n = 5.

Mean (x̄) = 1675/5 = 335

Mean: 335 milliseconds

Outlier effect on the mean

Outliers can significantly increase or decrease the mean when they are included in the calculation.
Since all values are used to calculate the mean, it can be affected by extreme outliers. An outlier is a
value that differs significantly from the others in a data set.

Example: Mean with an outlierIn this data set, we swap out one value with an extreme outlier.

Participant 1 2 3 4 5

Reaction time (milliseconds) 832 345 365 298 380

⅀x = 832 + 345 + 365 + 298 + 380 = 2220

Mean (x̄) = ⅀x/n =  2220/5 = 444

Due to the outlier, the mean becomes much higher, even though all the other numbers in the data
set stay the same.

Mean: 444 milliseconds

Population versus sample mean

A data set contains values from a sample or a population. A population is the entire group that you
are interested in researching, while a sample is only a subset of that population.

While data from a sample can help you make estimates about a population, only full population data
can give you the complete picture.

In statistics, the notation of a sample mean and a population mean and their formulas are different.
But the procedures for calculating the population and sample means are the same.

 Sample mean formula

The sample mean is written as M or x̄ (pronounced x-bar). For calculating the mean of a sample, use
this formula:

x̄ = ⅀x/n
 x̄:  sample mean
 ⅀x:  sum of all values in the sample data set
 n:  number of values in the sample data set

 Population mean formula

The population mean is written as μ (Greek term mu). For calculating the mean of a population, use
this formula:
μ  = ⅀ X/N
 μ:  population mean
 ⅀X:  sum of all values in the population data set
 N:  number of values in the population data set

When should you use the mean, median or mode?

The 3 main measures of central tendency are best used in combination with each other because
they have complementary strengths and limitations. But sometimes only 1 or 2 of them are
applicable to your data set, depending on the level of measurement of the variable.

 The mode can be used for any level of measurement, but it’s most meaningful for nominal
and ordinal levels.
 The median can only be used on data that can be ordered – that is, from ordinal, interval
and ratio levels of measurement.
 The mean can only be used on interval and ratio levels of measurement because it requires
equal spacing between adjacent values or scores in the scale.

Levels of measurement Examples Measure of central tendency

Nominal  Ethnicity  Mode

 Political ideology

Ordinal  Level of anxiety  Mode

 Income bracket  Median

Interval and ratio  Reaction time  Mode

 Test score  Median

 Temperature  Mean

To decide which measures of central tendency to use, you should also consider the distribution of
your data set. For normally distributed data, all three measures of central tendency will give you the
same answer so they can all be used. In skewed distributions, the median is the best measure
because it is unaffected by extreme outliers or non-symmetric distributions of scores. The mean and
mode can vary in skewed distributions.

Measures of variability
Variability describes how far apart data points lie from each other and from the center of a
distribution. Along with measures of central tendency, measures of variability give you descriptive
statistics that summarize your data.

Variability is also referred to as spread, scatter or dispersion. It is most commonly measured with the
following:

 Range: the difference between the highest and lowest values

 Interquartile range: the range of the middle half of a distribution
 Standard deviation: average distance from the mean
 Variance: average of squared distances from the mean
Range
The range tells you the spread of your data from the lowest to the highest value in the distribution.
It’s the easiest measure of variability to calculate. To find the range, simply subtract the lowest value
from the highest value in the data set.

Range example

You have 8 data points from Sample A.

Data (minutes) 72 110 134 190 238 287 305 324

The highest value (H) is 324 and the lowest (L) is 72.

R = H – L

R  = 324 – 72 = 252

The range of your data is 252 minutes.

Because only 2 numbers are used, the range is influenced by outliers and doesn’t give you any
information about the distribution of values. It’s best used in combination with other measures.

Standard deviation
The standard deviation is the average amount of variability in your dataset. It tells you, on average,
how far each score lies from the mean. The larger the standard deviation, the more variable the data
set is. There are six steps for finding the standard deviation by hand:

1. List each score and find their mean.

2. Subtract the mean from each score to get the deviation from the mean.
3. Square each of these deviations.
4. Add up all of the squared deviations.
5. Divide the sum of the squared deviations by n – 1 (for a sample) or N (for a population).
6. Find the square root of the number you found.

Standard deviation formula for populations

If you have data from the entire population, use the population standard deviation formula:

Formula Explanation

 σ = population standard deviation

 ∑ = sum of…

 X = each value

 μ = population mean

 N = number of values in the population

Standard deviation formula for samples

If you have data from a sample, use the sample standard deviation formula:
Formula Explanation

 s = sample standard deviation

 ∑ = sum of…

 X = each value

 x ̅ = sample mean

 n = number of values in the sample

Variance
The variance is the average of squared deviations from the mean. A deviation from the mean is how
far a score lies from the mean. Variance is the square of the standard deviation. This means that the
units of variance are much larger than those of a typical value of a data set.

While it’s harder to interpret the variance number intuitively, it’s important to calculate variance for
comparing different data sets in statistical tests like ANOVAs. Variance reflects the degree of spread
in the data set. The more spread the data, the larger the variance is in relation to the mean.

Variance example

To get variance, square the standard deviation.

s = 95.5

s2 = 95.5 x 95.5 = 9129.14

The variance of your data is 9129.14.

To find the variance by hand, perform all of the steps for standard deviation except for the final step.

Variance formula for populations

Formula Explanation

 σ2 = population variance

 Σ = sum of…

 Χ  = each value

 μ = population mean

 Ν = number of values in the population

Variance formula for samples

Formula Explanation

 s2 = sample variance

 Σ = sum of…

 Χ  = each value

 x̄ = sample mean

 n = number of values in the sample

What’s the best measure of variability?

The best measure of variability depends on your level of measurement and distribution.

Level of measurement

For data measured at an ordinal level, the range and interquartile range are the only appropriate
measures of variability. For more complex interval and ratio levels, the standard deviation and
variance are also applicable.

Distribution
For normal distributions, all measures can be used. The standard deviation and variance are
preferred because they take your whole data set into account, but this also means that they are
easily influenced by outliers.

For skewed distributions or data sets with outliers, the interquartile range is the best measure. It’s
least affected by extreme values because it focuses on the spread in the middle of the data set.

Sources:

https://www.scribbr.com/statistics/variability/#:~:text=Variability%20is%20most%20commonly
%20measured,average%20distance%20from%20the%20mean

https://www.scribbr.com/statistics/central-tendency/