COURSE TITLE: Linear Algebra, Statistics and

Probability
COURSE CODE: MATH-2101

Instructor: M. Ershadul Haque

Associate Professor

Department of Statistics, DU
 Measures of Central Tendency
• In a data set, the values have a tendency to cluster around a certain point. This tendency of
clustering the values around the center of the series is usually called central tendency.

• The numerical measure of this tendency of concentration is variously known as the measure
of central tendency or measure of location or the measure of average.

• Different measures of central tendency

✓ Arithmetic mean

✓ Median

✓ Mode
 Mean
• The most popular and best-understood measure of central tendency for a quantitative data
set is the arithmetic mean (mean) of a data set.

• The mean for a sampled data is denoted by 𝑥ҧ , it is read “𝑥 bar”.

• Suppose there are 𝑛 values 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛 for 𝑥, then the 𝑥ҧ is defined as

𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥3 + ⋯ + ⋯ + 𝑥𝑛 ∑𝑥
𝑥ത = =
𝑛 𝑛

• Example: The proportion of linoleic acid (L.A.) in the subjects’ plasma triglyceride fatty acids
in a sample of 15 males between 40 and 60 years of age are as follows:

18.0, 17.6, 9.6, 5.5, 16.8, 12.9, 14.0, 8.0, 8.9, 15.0, 9.3, 5.8, 8.3, 4.8, 6.9
 Mean
• The mean (arithmetic mean) is calculated as

∑𝑥 161.4
𝑥ത = = = 10.76
𝑛 15

• Thus the mean L.A. of the sample is 10.76.

• Arithmetic mean (AM) for grouped data:

Mid-values: 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑘
Frequencies: 𝑓1 , 𝑓2 , … , 𝑓𝑘

∑ 𝑓𝑥
• Then the 𝑥ҧ for grouped data is defined as 𝑥ҧ = , where 𝑛 = ∑ 𝑓.
𝑛
 Mean (cont…)
• The following frequency distribution shows the frequency distribution of ages of 150 subjects
Table: Frequency distribution of ages of 150 subjects
Age Frequency

11-20 5
21-30 15
31-40 50
41-50 45
51-60 35
• To compute the mean (arithmetic mean), we have constructed the following table
Age Frequency (𝑓) Mid values (𝑥) 𝑓𝑥

11-20 5 15.5 77.5

21-30 15 25.5 382.5
31-40 50 35.5 1775.0
41-50 45 45.5 2047.5
51-60 35 55.5 1942.5
Total 𝑛 = 150 6225
 Mean (cont…)
• The mean (arithmetic mean) is calculated as
∑ 𝑓𝑥 6225
𝑥ҧ = = = 41.5
𝑛 150
Thus the mean age is 41.5 years

• Properties of Arithmetic Mean

✓ Every set of interval or ratio level data has a mean. That is, mean can be computed only for
quantitative variable.

✓ The mean is unique and all the values are included in computing the mean.

✓ Arithmetic mean is dependent on both origin and scale of measurement. Let 𝑦𝑖 = 𝑎 + 𝑏𝑥𝑖 , 𝑖 = 1, 2, ⋯ , 𝑛
for some constants 𝑎 and 𝑏, then 𝑦ത = 𝑎 + 𝑏ഥ
𝑥.
✓ The sum of the deviations of each value from the mean is zero. Symbolically, ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ = 0

✓ If a set consists of 𝑛1 observations of the form 𝑥11 , 𝑥12 , … , 𝑥1𝑛1 with mean 𝑥1ҧ and a second set consists
of 𝑛2 observations of the form 𝑥21 , 𝑥22 , … , 𝑥2𝑛2 with mean 𝑥ҧ2 , then the mean of all the 𝑛1 + 𝑛2
𝑛1 𝑥ҧ 1 +𝑛2 𝑥ҧ 2
observations called combined mean or pooled mean, is given by 𝑥ҧ𝑐 = 𝑛1 +𝑛2
.
 Mean (cont…)
• Weighted Mean

✓ It is required if the observations for which the mean will be computed have different
weights in the data.

✓ Suppose there are 𝑘 values 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑘 with corresponding weights 𝑤1 , 𝑤2 , … , 𝑤𝑘 ,

∑𝑤𝑥
respectively. Then the weighted mean 𝑥ҧ𝑤 is defined as 𝑥ҧ𝑤 = .
∑𝑤

𝑛1 𝑥ҧ 1 +𝑛2 𝑥ҧ 2 𝑤1 𝑥1 +𝑤2 𝑥2
✓ The combined mean is defined as 𝑥ҧ𝑐 = . It can be written as , where
𝑛1 +𝑛2 𝑤1 +𝑤2

𝑤𝑖 = 𝑛𝑖 and 𝑥𝑖 = 𝑥ҧ𝑖 , 𝑖 = 1, 2. Therefore, it can be considered as a weighted mean 𝑥ҧ𝑤 .

Thank You