Mathematics C Standard Term 2

Lecture 30
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
MEAN MODE MEDIAN
Syllabus Reference: 10-4

Mean: The mean is the average of a set of quantitative data and is equal to the sum of all the scores in
the data set divided by the total number of scores in the set.
The symbol for the mean is x .

For a list of scores : x=

 xi
n
Ungrouped data in a
x=
x f i i
( f i is the frequency for score xi )
frequency table :
f i

Grouped data [class intervals]: x=

x f
i i
(using class centre as xi )
f i

On calculator : Choose statistical mode, enter data values, press x key.

Example 1 Find the mean of the set of scores 51, 53, 57, 52, 59

(a) by using the formula x =

 xi .
n
(b) by entering data and then using the x key on the calculator, as below.

Use of the calculator Casio fx-82AU PLUS II to find x for a list of scores
1. Choosing statistical mode
MODE
2[stat]
1 [1-var]
A data entry table appears on the display
x
1
2
3

2. Entering data
To enter the scores in example 1 press:

51 = 53 = 57 = 52 = 59 =

The scores will be entered in the data entry table

3. To find the mean x press the following sequence of keys:
AC (this clears the screen, but entered data is remembered)
SHIFT
1 [stat]
4 [var]
2[x] =
 Example 2 Finding the mean for data in a frequency table

Score Frequency f ×x
1 4
2 7
3 6
4 3
totals
(a) Complete the f × x column and the totals above and hence find the mean of the data using the

formula x =
x f i i
.
f i

(b) Follow the procedure below to enter the data into your calculator and find the mean by using the
x key.

Use of the calculator Casio fx-82AU PLUS II to find x for data in a frequency table.

1. Choose Statistical mode as in previous question

MODE
2[stat]
1 [1-var]
A new data entry table appears on the display

2. Add a frequency column to the data entry table

Press
SHIFT SET UP

REPLAY
Press the DOWN arrow on the cursor key

3 1

(This will add a frequency column to a data entry table. In future you should have the frequency column ON
by default even when you are doing questions like Example 1.)

3. Entering data
To enter the scores column from the table above press:

1 = 2 = 3 = 4 =

MOVE the cursor to the top of frequency column by using arrows on the curser key and enter frequencies.

4 = 7 = 6 = 3 =

4. To find x press same key sequence as in previous questions :

AC (this clears the screen, but entered data is remembered)
SHIFT
1 [stat]
4 [var]
2[x] =
When data is grouped into class intervals, for the purpose of calculating the mean, we assume that all scores
in a class interval are equal to the class centre. Hence the class centre values are used as the xi values in

the mean formula x =

x f i i
.
f i

Example 3 Complete the class centre column and hence find the mean for the following grouped data
using the x key on the calculator. [Note: Class centre values are entered in the x column.]

Class interval Class centre Frequency

3⋅5 − 4⋅5 4
4⋅5 − 5⋅5 2
5⋅5 − 6⋅5 3
6⋅5 − 7 ⋅5 5
7⋅5 −8⋅5 4
8⋅5 − 9⋅5 3

Special Notes on use of the Calculator for statistics

• The calculator automatically erases previous data when a new table is called up

• Once you turn on the frequency column for the first time on a new calculator this will then
appear by default every time you call up a new table unless you go through the sequence of
keys to turn it off. It is best if you leave the frequency on in all questions.

• To return to a table PRESERVING DATA PRESS:

SHIFT
1 [stat]
2 [data]

Mode: The mode is the score which occurs most often. There may be a unique mode, several modes or
essentially no mode. For ungrouped data in a frequency table the mode can be seen as the score which has
the highest frequency. For grouped data we find the modal class which is the class interval with the
highest frequency.

Example 4 Find the mode for each data set

(a) 2, 1, 2, 1, 1, 5, 1, 9, 4
(b) 2, 5, 1, 4, 9, 8, 7
(c) 8, 2, 6, 8, 3, 3, 1, 5, 1, 8, 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 6, 8, 8, 8

Example 5 State the mode for the data below.

Score Frequency
10 3
12 5
13 11
17 7
totals

Example 6 State the modal class for the grouped data in example 3 above.
Median: the middle score when scores are arranged in order from lowest to highest.
• If the number of scores is odd the median is the middle score when the scores are arranged in
ascending order.
• If the number of scores is even the median is the average of the two middle scores when the scores
are arranged in ascending order.

Which score(s) are in the middle?

n +1
If n is odd the middle score is in the position
2
13 + 1
Example: if there are 13 scores then the middle score is the = 7th score
2
n n
If n is even the middle pair of scores are in positions and +1
2 2
Example: if there are 14 scores then the 7th and 8th are the middle two

Casio fx-82AU PLUS II Calculator

Method for finding the Median [ungrouped data only]

Enter the data and press AC

then Press :
SHIFT
1 [STAT]
5: MinMax
4:med
=

Example 7 Find the median for the scores

47, 51, 80, 91, 85, 69, 91, 95, 81, 60
(a) by arranging scores in order (b) by the calculator method above

A cumulative frequency column can be useful when finding the median as it will indicate the number of
scores up to a certain point so the middle can easily be pinpointed.

Example 8 Complete the cumulative frequency column and find the median for the following ungrouped
data. (a) using the calculator key for median
(b) without using the calculator key for median

Score Frequency Cumulative frequency

5⋅0 7
5⋅2 11
5⋅4 16
5⋅6 21
5⋅8 15
6⋅0 10
Median for grouped data:
The median cannot be found exactly from a frequency table for grouped data as the actual data values are
lost when the data is recorded in the table. The median class interval can be found and is the class interval
in which the middle score(s) lie. The cumulative frequency column can be of assistance in pinpointing this
class interval. The median itself can then be approximated in various ways all based on assuming that the
scores in the median class interval are evenly distributed through that class interval. [Note that the
calculator method will not work as to enter the data we need to assume that all scores in a class interval are
equal to the class centre, so if we use the median key the result will be given as the class centre of the
median class interval, which may be inaccurate.]
In this course we find an approximation for the median for grouped data by using areas under the
frequency histogram. We find the number M on the horizontal axis such that the frequency histogram has
the same area to the left of M as to the right of M.

FREQUENCY HISTOGRAM

Shaded area is
half total area
of histogram

To find the median for grouped data :

1. Complete a cumulative frequency column and hence or otherwise find the median class
interval
2. Draw a frequency histogram and mark the median M on the x-axis somewhere in the
median class interval [not necessarily in the middle of this interval] and draw a vertical
line through M as shown above
3. Calculate the total area of histogram = class interval width ×  f i

4. Make an equation and solve to find an estimate for the median :

1
Area of rectangles to the left of M = × total area
2
1
= × class interval width ×  f i
2
Example 9
(a) Draw a frequency histogram for the grouped data below.
(b) Hence find the median for the data using the area method above.
Class interval Frequency
0 ⋅5− 2 ⋅5 3
2 ⋅5− 4 ⋅5 2
4 ⋅5−6 ⋅5 3
6 ⋅ 5−8 ⋅ 5 7
For the Tutorial Extra Exercises
1. Find the mean the median and the mode for each set of data

(a) 20, 23, 24, 21, 20, 25, 22, 20

(b) 16, 19, 12, 3, 15, 16, 19
(c)

score frequency
30 3
31 7
32 11
33 4
34 1

2. The library holdings of 50 major American Universities are given in the table. Complete the table.
(a) find the mean (b) find the median

Number of Class centre Number of Cumulative

books in universities frequency
millions
0⋅0−2⋅5 4
2 ⋅5−5⋅ 0 32
5⋅0−7 ⋅5 10
7 ⋅ 5 −10 ⋅ 0 3
10 ⋅ 0 −12 ⋅ 5 1

Answers

1. (a) mean = 21.875 median = 21.5 mode =20

(b) mean = 14.29 median =16 mode = 16 and 19 ( bimodal)
(c) mean =31.73 median =32 mode =32

2. (a) 4⋅5 (b) 4 ⋅ 14

Suggested Exercises: Learning Guide Ex 10-4