MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

5.1 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY 1. It requires no calculation.

A measure of central tendency is a single figure that is
a representative of the general level of magnitudes or
values of the items in the data set. It is called measure of
central tendency because when the data points are arranged
according to magnitude, it tends to lie centrally within the
set.
Any measure indicating the center of a set of data
arranged in an increasing or decreasing order of magnitude
is called a measure of central location or a measure of
central tendency.
5.2 TREATMENT OF UNGROUPED DATA
A. Mean
1. Arithmetic Mean (or average). This is the most widely
used measure of location. It is calculated by adding the
values of the observations and dividing by the total number
of observations.
Population mean: If a set of data x 1 , x 2 … x N , represents a
finite population of size N , then the population mean is
μ=
∑ xi
N 2. A student had accumulated 20 credits with the grade of
Sample Mean: If a set of data x 1 , x 2 … x n, represents a
finite sample of size n , then the sample mean is
x́=
∑ xi
n 3. A student was taking six subjects in college during the
2. Weighted Mean
2. It can be used for quantitative as well as qualitative
data.
Note: The mode does not always exist. For some sets of
data where there may be several values occurring with the
greatest frequency in which case, there are more than one
mode. If there are two modes in a distribution, then the
distribution is said to be bimodal.
True Mode: The true mode can be calculated using the
formula:
True mode=3 ~
x−2 x́
D. Midrange
Midrange is defined as the mean of the largest and
smallest values in a set of data.
EXERCISES:
1. The numbers of incorrect answers on a true or false
competency test for a random sample of 15 students were
recorded as follows: 2, 1, 3, 0, 1, 3, 6, 0, 3, 3, 5, 2, 1, 4, and
2. Find a. mean, b. median, c. mode, d. midrange.
A, 25 credits with B’s, 10 credits with C’s, and 2 credits
with D’s. The school uses the grading scale in which A = 4
grade points, B = 3, C = 2 and D = 1. Determine the grade
point average.
first semester. Find his average grade if his final grades

x́=
∑ w i xi were as follows:
Subjects Grade Units
∑ wi Math 1.75 3
where: Physics 2.50 5
x i=ith data point English 2.25 3
w i=weight of the ith data point Speech 1.50 2
Statistics 3.0 4
∑ wi xi = sum of the products of the data points and their
corresponding weights 4. An economist studying trends in gasoline prices within a
city takes sample of 30 of the city’s gas stations,
B. Median. The median of a set of observations arranged determining for each station the price per litre (in dollars)
in an increasing or decreasing order of magnitude is the of unleaded regular gasoline. The results are given below.
middle value when the number of observations is odd or the Find the mean and median.
arithmetic mean of the two values when the number of Price Frequency
observation is even. The formula is given by $1.05 1
x n+1 if n is odd 1.07 3
~
{
x= x n + x n
2
2
2

2
+1
if nis even
1.08
1.10
1.11
1.12
1
12
8
5

C. Mode. The mode of a set of observations is the value

which occurs most often or with the highest frequency. It is 5.3 TREATMENT OF GROUPED DATA
the least used method. A. The Mean of Grouped Data
Advantages:
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 MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

 If x 1 , x 2 … x k are the class marks of a set of grouped For a grouped data set on the other hand, the mode can
data with the corresponding class frequencies be calculated using the formula given by
f 1 , f 2 … f k , then the mean of the sample is ∆1

x́=
∑ f i xi
^x =LCB mo +
where:
[ ∆1 + ∆2 ]
i

∑ fi LCB mo= lower boundary of the modal class

 A faster method of calculating the mean is 1 = difference between the highest frequency and the
frequency of the interval immediately preceding the
∑ f i di
x́=c ( n )
+A which can be used by modal class
2 = difference between the highest frequency and the
transforming or coding the class marks by the formula: frequency of the interval immediately succeeding the
x i− A modal class
d i=
c
where: A = any class mark Similar to the computation of the median, knowing the
modal class is the key to determine the mode. The modal
c = class width/size
class is the class interval containing the highest frequency.
x i = class mark of the ith interval
Example 1: Consider the frequency table below. Example 2: The frequency distribution below
Class summarizes the recorded amount of time (in minutes) a
Boundaries
xi fi f i xi di f idi patients spent waiting in line for a check-up during peak
1.45 – 1.95 1.7 2 3.40 –3 –6 hours on Monday:
1.95 – 2.45 2.2 1 2.20 –2 –2 Waiting Number of
2.45 – 2.95 2.7 4 10.80 –1 –4 time clients
2.95 – 3.45 3.2 15 48.00 0 0 0-3 8
3.45 – 3.95 3.7 10 37.00 1 10 4–7 14
3.95 – 4.45 4.2 5 21.00 2 10 8 – 11 9
4.45 – 4.95 4.7 3 14.10 3 9 12 – 15 10
40 136.50 17
16 – 19 5
20 – 23 3
B. The Median of Grouped Data 24 – 27 1
For a grouped data set, the median may be computed
using the formula Calculate the mean, median, and mode.
n

where:
~
x=LCB md +
2
−CF
f md [ ]
i
Example 3: The frequency distribution below summarizes
the number of books that students borrow from the library
(per month).
Number Frequency
LCB md= lower boundary of the median class of books
n = total frequency 1−3 3
CF = <CF immediately preceding the median class 4−6 13
f md= frequency of the median class 7−9 22
i = class size 10−12 15
As the common denominator of most of the variables 13−15 7
in the formula, the median class should first be known
before one can compute for the median. The median class Calculate the following:
is the class interval whose <CF is the first to be greater than a) mean
n /2 (starting from the lowest interval). b) median
c) mode

C. The Mode of Grouped Data

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