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INTRODUCTION
A measure of central tendency is a single value that attempts to describe a set of data (like
scores) by identifying the central position within that set of data or scores. As such, measures of
central tendency are sometimes called measures of central location. Central tendency refers to the
center of a distribution of observations. Where do scores tend to congregate? In a test of 100
items, where are most of the scores? Do they tend to group around the mean score of 50 or 80?
There are three measures of central tendency – the mean, the median and the mode.
Perhaps you are most familiar with the mean (often called the average). But there are two other
measures of central tendency, namely, the median and the mode. Is there such a thing as best
measure of central tendency?
If the measures of central tendency indicate where scores congregate, or the measures of
variability indicate how spread out a group of scores is or how varied the scores are or how far
they are from the mean? Common measures of dispersion or variability are range, interquartile
range, variance and standard deviation.
Score 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5 38 56 60 67 70 73 78 79 95
The mean score for these ten Grade 12 students is 62.1 However, inspecting the raw data
suggests that this mean score may not be the best way to accurately reflect the score of the typical
Grade 12 student, as most students have scores in the 5 to 95 range. The mean is being skewed
by the extremely low and extremely high scores. Therefore, in this situation, we would like to have
a better measure of central tendency. As we will find out later, taking the median would be a better
measure of central tendency in this situation.
Median
The median is the middle score for a set of scores arranged from lowest to highest. The
mean is less affected by extremely low and extremely high scores. How do we find the median?
Suppose we have the following data:
65 55 89 56 35 14 56 55 87 45 92
To determine the median, first we have to rearrange the scores into order of magnitude
(from smallest to largest).
14 35 45 55 55 56 65 87 89 92
Our median is the score at the middle of the distribution. In this case, 56. It is the middle
score. There are 5 scores before it and 5 scores after it. This works fine when you have an odd
number of scores, but what happens when you have an even number of scores? What if you had
10 scores like the scores below?
65 55 89 56 35 14 56 55 87 45
Arrange that data according to order of magnitude (smallest to largest). Arrange that data
according to order of magnitude (smallest to largest). The median is 55.5. This gives us a more
reliable picture of the tendency of the scores. There are indeed scores of 55 and 56 in the score
distribution.
Mode
The mode is the most frequent score in our data set. On a histogram or bar chart it
represents the highest bar. If it is a score of the number of times an option is chosen in a multiple
choice test.. You can, therefore, sometimes consider the mode as being the most popular option.
Study the score distribution given below:
14 35 45 55 55 56 56 65 87 89
There are two most frequent scores 55 and 56. So we have a score distribution with two
modes, hence a bimodal distribution.
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
http://kalnari.com/blog/an-interesting-multipurposed-brown-sofa-by-marcin-wielgosz/
Figure 13. Normal Distribution
If mean is equal to the median and median is equal to the mode, the score distribution
shows a perfectly normal distribution. This is illustrated by the perfect bell shape or
normal curve shown in Figure 13.
If mean is less than the median and the mode, the score distribution a negatively skewed
distribution. See Figure 14. In a negatively skewed distribution the scores tend to
congregate at the upper end of the score distribution.
https://sciencestruck.com/types-of-skewed-distribution-with-real-life-examples
Figure 14. Negatively Skewed Distribution
If mean is greater than the median and the mode, the score distribution is a positively
skewed distribution. See Figure 15. In a positively skewed distribution the scores tend to
congregate at the lower end of the score distribution.
https://sciencestruck.com/types-of-skewed-distribution-with-real-life-examples
Figure 15. Positively Skewed Distribution
If scores tend to be high because teacher taught very well and students are highly
motivated to learn, the score distribution tends to be negatively skewed, i.e. the scores will tend to
be high. On the other hand, when teacher does not teach well and students are poorly motivated,
the score distribution tends to be positively skewed which means that scores tend to below. So
which score distribution should we work for?
Range
What is variability?
Variability refers to how “spread out” a group of scores is. The terms variability, spread,
and dispersion are synonymous, and refer to how spread out a distribution is. Here are two sets of
score distribution:
A - 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 - Mean is 5, 6
B - 1, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9 - Mean is 5, 6
The two score distributions have equal mean scores and yet the scores are varied. Score
distribution A shows scores that are less varied than score distribution B. That is what we mean by
variability or dispersion. If we have to study both score distributions, assuming that the highest
possible score in the quiz is 10, we can say that Groups A and B are equal in terms of mean but
Group A has more similar scores and are closer to the mean while Group B, while its mean is
equal to the mean of Group A, students in Group B have more varied scores than Group A. In fact
the lowest score is extremely low compared to Group A and the highest score is much higher than
the highest score in Group A.
To see more what we mean by spread out, consider graphs in Figure 1. These graphs
represent the scores on two quizzes. The mean score for each quiz is 7.0. Despite the equality of
means, you can see that the distributions are quite different. Specifically, the scores on Quiz 1 are
more densely packed and those on Quiz 2 are more spread out. The differences among students
were much greater on Quiz 2 than on Quiz 1.
Quiz 1
Quiz 2
Variance
Variability can also be defined in terms of how close the scores in the distribution are to the
middle of the distribution. Using the mean as the measure of the middle of the distribution, the
variance is defined as the average squared difference of the scores from the mean. The data from
Quiz 1 are shown in Table 1. The mean score is 7.0. Therefore, the column “Deviation from Mean”
contains the score minus 7. The column “Squared Deviation” is simply the previous column
squared.
Table 6. Calculation of Variance for Quiz 1 scores.
Scores Deviation from Mean Squared Deviation
9 2 4
9 2 4
9 2 4
8 1 1
8 1 1
8 1 1
8 1 1
7 0 0
7 0 0
7 0 0
7 0 0
7 0 0
6 -1 1
6 -1 1
6 -1 1
6 -1 1
6 -1 1
6 -1 1
5 -2 4
5 -2 4
Means
7 0 1.5
One thing that is important to notice is that the mean deviation from the mean is 0. This will
always be the case. The mean of the squared deviations is 1.5. Therefore, the variance is 1.5. The
formula for the variance is:
∑ �−� �
σ =
2
�
Standard Deviation
To calculate the standard deviation of those numbers:
1. Work out the Mean (the simple average of the numbers).
2. Then for each number: subtract the Mean and square the result.
3. Then work out the mean of those squared differences.
4. Take the square root of that and we are done!
Step 2. Then for each number: subtract the Mean and square the result.
This is the part of the formula that says:
�
�� − �
So what is xi? They are the individual x values 9, 2, 5, 4, 12, 7, etc... In other words
xi = 9, x2 = 2, x3 = 5, etc.
So it says “for each value, subtract the mean and square the result,” like this:
Example (continued):
(9 - 7)2 = (2)2 = 4
(2 - 7)2 = (-5)2 = 25
(5 - 7)2 = (-2)2 = 4
(4 - 7)2 = (-3)2 = 9
(12 - 7)2 = (5)2 = 25
(7 - 7)2 = (0)2 = 0
(8 - 7)2 = (1)2 = 1
… etc ...
And we get these results:
4, 25, 4, 9, 25, 0, 1, 16, 4, 16, 0, 9, 25, 4, 9, 9,4, 1, 4,9
Step 3. Then work out the mean of those squared differences. To work out the mean,
add up all the values then divide by how many.
First add up all the values from the previous step.
But how do we say “add them all up” in mathematics? We use “Sigma”: 2
The handy Sigma Notation says to sum up as many terms as we want:
We want to add up all the values from 1 to N, where N=20 in our case because
there are 20 values:
Example (continued):
�
�
�� − �
�=�
Which means: Sum all values from (xi - 7)2 to (xN - 7)2
We already calculated (xi - 7)2 = 4 etc. in the previous step, so just sum them up: =
4+25+4+9+25+0+1+16+4+16+0+9+25+4+9+9+4+1+4+9 = 178
But that isn’t the mean yet, we need to divide by how many, which is done by
multiplying by 1/N (the same as dividing by N):
Example (continued):
�
� �
�� − �
�
�=�
N
1 2
σ= xi − μ
N
i=1
σ = √(8.9) = 2.983…
�
� �
�= �� = �
�−�
�=�
The important change is “N-1” instead of “N” (which is called “Bessel’s correction”).
The symbols also change to reflect that we are working on sample instead of the whole
population:
The mean is now x (for sample mean) instead of μ (the population mean),
And the answer is s (for Sample Standard Deviation instead of σ.
But that does not affect the calculations. Only N-1 instead of N changes the calculations.
Here are the steps in calculating the Sample Standard Deviation:
Step 1. Work out the mean
Example 2: Using sampled values 9, 2, 5, 4, 12, 7
The mean is (9+2+5+4+12+7) / 6 = 39/6 = 6.5
So: x = 6.5
Step 2. Then for each number: subtract the Mean and square the result
Example 2 (continued):
(9 - 6.5)2 = (2.5)2 = 6.25
(2-6.5)2 (-4.5)2 = 20.25
(5-6.5)2 = (-1.5)2 = 2.25
(4-6.5)2 = (-2.5)2 = 6.25
(12 - 6.5)2 = (5.5)2 = 30.25
(7-6.5)2 = (0.5)2 = 0.25
�
� �
�= �� = �
�−�
�=�
s = √(13.1) = 3.619…
7.6. Comparing
When we used the whole population we got: Mean = 7, Standard Deviation = 2.983…
When we used the sample we got: Sample Mean = 6.5, Sample Standard Deviation =
3.619…
Our Sample Mean was wrong by 7%, and our Sample Standard Deviation was wrong by
21%.
http://onlinestatbook.com/2/summarizing_distributions/variability.html
Figure 18. Normal distributions with standard deviations of 5 and 10.
Standard Deviation is a measure of dispersion, the more dispersed the data, the less
consistent the data are. A lower standard deviation means that the data are more clustered around
the mean and hence the data set is more consistent.
You need to read your calculator instructions to see what notation your calculator uses for
the standard deviation.
An example. Standard deviation for a data set with frequency 1.
Using the following data: 10 15 13 25 22 53 47
We found the mean to be x 26:4285714. You should also see from the same calculation
that the standard deviation (SD) = 16:98879182.
(2009 ASU School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences and Terri Miller, retrieved, 1-15-19)
2. A student has gotten the following grades on his tests: 87, 95, 76, and 88. He wants an
85 or better overall. What is the minimum grade he must get on the last test in order to
achieve that average?
References:
Balagtas, M. et al (2020) Assessment in Learning 1:1st Edition Rex Book Store Buenaflor, R.
C. (2012). Assessment of learning book one: the conventional approach.
Quezon City: Great Books Publishing
Garcia, C.D. (2013). Measuring and evaluating learning outcomes: a textbook in educational
assessment
1&2. Second Ed. Mandaluyong City: Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.
Navarro, RL.et al (2017). Assessment of Learning 1. (OBE-and K to12- Based) 3 rd Edition.
Lorimar Publishing Inc.Quezon City.
Navarro, RL.et al (2019). Assessment of Learning 1. (OBE-& PPST- Based) 4 th Edition. Lorimar
Publishing Inc.Quezon City.
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNz0zPCgYyU
https:/www.mathsisfun.com/data/standard-deviation-formulas.html,Retrieved 5-1-19)
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