MODULE 4

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

Introduction

Measures of central tendency provide us a convenient way of describing a

set of data with a single number. On the average, how many times did you go to
the restaurant to order your favorite dish? What percentage of your income is
allotted for transportation? Which month of the year do you spend the most for
vacations? The word “averages” has been applied to several measures of central
tendency. The purpose of these averages is to summarize data into a single
value, a typical value, or middle position of a set of values that can be used to
describe the basic characteristics of the frequency distribution. In this module,
three commonly used measures of central tendency-mean, median and mode
will be discussed for ungrouped (raw) and grouped data. Ungrouped data are
raw data and grouped data are raw data that have been compressed into a
frequency distribution table for better and easy understanding.

Note: This module presents how to compute for the measures of central
tendency using manual or long hand calculations, for the purpose of introducing
it conceptually. In the succeeding modules, the use of SPSS is emphasized.
THE MEAN

The Arithmetic Mean

The arithmetic mean or mean is the most familiar and most widely used
measure of central tendency. It is also the most reliable value in which all the
values of the variable are taken into consideration. The arithmetic mean for
ungrouped data is obtained by taking the sum of all the values in a set of
observations divided by the number of observations. In symbols,

where: is the arithmetic mean of the X’s (observations), ∑X (the Greek letter
sigma), is ‘the sum of X” , and n is the number of observations, or in our case,
scores.

Example 1. Carlo obtained the following scores for the 10 quizzes given by his
teacher: 25,28, 34, 35, 28, 37, 36, 32, 35 and 34 .
The mean is:

⸱ ൭ 㸶 ㈷ 〠 〰 ㌱
㌱
 ퟖ  ퟖ * 
㌱

= ㌱

ʹ⸱
Example 2. Joan got the following scores in the performance tasks:
90 ,75, 80, 83, 87, 86, 84, 80, and 92

〰㌱ ㈷൭ 〠㌱ 〠 〠㈷ 〠㸶 〠⸱ 〠㌱ 〰
〰

〰
= 84.11
Mean can also be viewed as the ‘center of gravity’ of a distribution. It
serves as the fulcrum in balancing all the values in the distribution.
The Weighted Mean

This method involves multiplying each of the scores by the corresponding

frequency. Then add the products and divide by the number of scores.

where: X = number of different values of X in the set

f1 = frequency of the corresponding scores

Example: Fifty (50) students were given a test in Science and their scores are
presented below. The table shows that of the 50 students, 4 of them got a score
of 70, 6 students got a score of 67, and so forth.

Xi fi Xifi
70 4 280 (70x4)
67 6 402
64 5 320
60 7 420
58 5 290
56 4 224
54 5 270
50 6 300
45 8 360
Ʃ f1 =50 Ʃ Xifi= 2,866

The weighted mean is:

〠㸶㸶
൭㈷ʹ
൭㌱
Example 2. Fifty-five (55) students were given a test in Chemistry and their
scores are:

Xi fi Xifi
92 3 276 (92x3)
90 8 720
88 4 352
86 5 430
84 10 840
83 9 747
80 7 560
79 9 711
Ʃ f1 =55 Ʃ Xifi= 4,636

The weighted mean is:

⸱㸶 㸶
〠⸱ʹ 〰
൭൭

The Mean for Grouped Data

Computing the arithmetic mean for a frequency distribution is almost

similar to computing the mean for ungrouped data. But since the compression of
data in a frequency table resulted in the loss of the actual values of observations
in each class, it is necessary to assume that every observation in a class has a
value equivalent to the class midpoint.

The formula for computing the mean for grouped data is:
th

where:: f= the frequency or number of observation in a class

CM= the class mark of every observation in the class
 n= the total number of frequencies or observations in the
distribution
Example 1. The following are the students’ test scores in an English class.
Test Number of Students Class Mark fCM
Scores (f) (CM)
48-51 2 49.5 (48+51)/2 99 (2 x 49.5)

44-47 6 45.5 273

40-43 7 41.5 290.5
36-39 7 37.5 262.2
32-35 5 33.5 167.5
28-31 10 29.5 295
24-27 1 25.5 25.5
20-23 1 21.5 21.5
16-19 7 17.5 122.5
12-15 4 13.5 54
n=50 Ʃ fCM= 1,611

th
Solution:

*
t
ʹ
Example 2. The following are the students’ test scores in a Math class.
Test Number of Students Class Mark fxCM
Scores (f) (CM)
90-94 3 92 (90+94)/2 276 (3x92)
85-89 8 87 696
80-84 6 82 492
75-79 9 77 693
70-74 10 72 720
65-69 6 67 402
60-64 5 62 310
55-59 3 57 171
50-54 4 52 208
45-49 1 47 47
n=55 Ʃ fCM= 4,015

th
Solution:

t 


Advantages of the Mean:

1. The concept of mean is familiar to most people and it is clear
2. It is the most stable and most reliable measure of central tendency
2. Every set of data has a mean – and one and only mean.
3. The mean is useful in computing other statistics such as mean comparisons
(t- test or ANOVA)

Disadvantages of the Mean:

1. The mean is affected by extremely low or high values
2. It is time consuming to compute because all data point are included, and most
especially of you have large data set.

THE MEDIAN

Median is a measure of central tendency that occupies the middle position

in an array of observations or the 50th percentile of a distribution where 50% lie
above the median and 50% lie below the median. The word ’array’ denotes that it
is necessary to rank the data first either in ascending (from lowest to highest) or
descending (from highest to lowest) order before selecting the middle
observation.

The Median for Ungrouped Data

If there are n numbers in the array and n is an odd number, the median is
found by the formula, (n+1)/2. For example, if there are 11 numbers in the list,
the median is (11+1)/2 = 6th , which is the middle position in the array. If n is an
even number, then the median lies between two observations occupying the
middle portion of the distribution curve. For example, If n = 10, then the median
lies between the (10 + 1) = 5.5th observation.

Example 1
98 72 95 75 90 80 88 81 88 86 92

Arranging the scores from highest to lowest, we have

98 95 92 90 88 88 86 81 80 75 72

The middle score is the 6th score, either from the highest or from the lowest, and
it is 88.

Example 2

128 127 127 125 124 120 120 119 118 115
 The scores are already in descending order. Since there are 10 scores
and is even, the middle score is the 5.5th score. The 5th score is 124 and the 6th
score is 120. Therefore, the middle score is the average of 124 and 120 which is
122. (Note that in the array, there is no score of 122, but statistically, it is the
middle score. It is the score that separates the top half from the bottom half of the
score distribution).

The computation and interpretation of median for ungrouped data is easy

to do and easy to understand. It is affected by the level of measurement and the
shape of the distribution, not the number of observations. Median is usually used
for ordinal data or when there are extreme (too high or too low) values in the
distribution.

The Median for Grouped Data

As what has been discussed, the median is the value that occupies the
middle position in an array of scores. Since the actual values of a data set are
lost when the frequency table was constructed, it’s only possible for us to
approximate for the value of the median from grouped data. The first step in
computing for the median is to locate the class that contains the median
observation. Then compute the median value by interpolating within the median
class on the assumption that there is an even distribution of values throughout
the class. The formula for computing the median for grouped data is:
t
푘 푘
푘

Where :Md = the median

LLMd = lowest limit of the median class
n = total number of frequencies in the distribution
cf = cumulative frequency of the median class
fMd = frequency of the median
i = size of the interval of the median class
Example1. Using the scores in the English test
Test Scores Number of Students Cumulative Frequency
(f) (cf)
48-51 2 50
44-47 6 48
40-43 7 42
36-39 7 35
32-35 5 (one step higher) 28
28-31 10 23 (less than 25)
24-27 1 13
20-23 1 12
16-19 7 11 (4+7=11)
12-15 4 4
N=50

Find the value which will correspond to to determine the median class. In
൭㌱
the given scores, ൭. Find in the t column the number which is less than

or equal to 25. In the group, the cf of the median class is 23. The frequency will
be one step higher than the frequency where the median class is located, hence
푘  . The Lowest limit is one-half less than the lower limit of the interval
where the median is located. In this example the lower limit is 32 , so the lowest
limit (32-.5) = 31.5. Thus,
t
푘 푘
푘

⸱ ൭ ā
푘 ʹ൭ ൭

푘 ʹ൭ ʹ㸶
h ʹ
Example 2. Using the scores in the Math test
Test Scores Number of Students Cumulative Frequency
(f) (cf)
90-94 3 55
85-89 8 52
80-84 6 44
75-79 9 38
70-74 10 29
65-69 6 19
60-64 5 13
55-59 3 8
50-54 4 5
45-49 1 1
n=55
t
푘 푘
푘

൭ ㈷ʹ൭ 〰ā
푘 㸶〰ʹ൭ ㌱

푘 㸶〰ʹ൭ ⸱ʹ ൭
h ʹ 

Advantages of the Median:

1. It is not affected by extreme values, unlike the mean
2. It is easy to understand and can be calculated from any kind of data.
3. The median can be applied even for qualitative data
4. It can be used when the data is ordinal or the data is badly skewed (too many
high or low values)
Disadvantages of the Median:
1. Data have to be arranged first in an array before computing the median. Thus,
it is time consuming involving large data sets
2. Some statistical techniques using the median is more complicated than the
mean.
THE MODE

The mode, by definition is the most frequently occurring observation in a

series of scores or the most popular score in the list. It is the score that occurs
more times than any other scores. It is the score having the highest point in a
frequency polygon.

The Crude Mode. It can be found by mere inspection. It may not exist in
some sets of data, or there may be more than one mode in other sets of data. A
bimodal distribution should probably have two modes. Extreme scores in the
distribution do not affect the mode but this is the least reliable measure of central
tendency than mean or median.

Example 1

96 97 98 97 93 90 89 97 81 80

What is the most frequent score? Or, which score has the highest frequency?
Correct, 97 is the mode because there are 3 observations.

Example 2

92 92 90 89 89 88 87 86 85 84

In this example, the modes are 92 and 89 (bimodal). Both scores have a
frequency of 2.

Example 3

90 89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82 81

In this example, there is no mode.

 The True Mode. If values are unknown in a frequency table, the mode
must also be approximated. From our previous lesson on histogram, it is
assumed that the most commonly occurring value in a frequency distribution is
found in the largest class and directly under the peak of a frequency polygon. We
can compute for the value of the mode in terms of the values of the mean and
median. (We can also compute it with a separate formula, but is not part of the
module. We will just maximize the values that were obtained earlier)

The formula is : ht h h ā

For the English test, Median is 33.1 and the Mean is 32.22.

Therefore:
h푘r ʹ ʹ
〰〰ʹ 㸶⸱ʹ⸱⸱
. ht ʹퟖ*

For the Math test, median is 73.75 and the mean is 73.

Therefore:
h푘r ㈷ ʹ㈷൭ ㈷ ā
ʹ ൭ ⸱㸶
. ht ʹ 

Advantages of the Mode

1. If we want to get a quick estimate of measure of central tendency
2. It can be easily observed especially when the data is presented graphically

Disadvantages of the Mode:

1. It is very unreliable because only the score with the highest frequency is reported.
2. You cannot utilize it for other statistical techniques, aside from ranking
frequencies