MAT 152 : Module 10

Computing
Measures of Central
Tendency
 Measure of Central Tendency

A measure of central tendency is a singe value

that attempts to describe a set of data by identifying the
central position within the set of data.

In statistics, the three most common measures of

central tendency are the MEAN, MEDIAN, & MODE
DESCRIPTION/UNGROUPED DATA

 Mean 𝒙
ഥ - average
σ𝑥
𝑥ҧ =
𝑛
 Median 𝒙 ෥ - middle value in an arranged set
○ If 𝒏 is odd, the middle number
○ If 𝒏 is even, the mean of the two middle number

 Mode 𝒙𝒐 - most frequent value

Types of mode: a. Unimodal – only 1 mode
b. Bimodal – 2 modes in a set
c. Multimodal – more than 2 modes
Example 1

Eight friends in a math class received test scores

of 18, 15, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, and 21.

a. Find the mean

b. Find the median
c. Find the mode and determine the type of mode
Eight friends in a math class received test scores of 18, 15, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, and 21.
a. Find the mean.

σ𝑥
𝑥ҧ =
𝑛

(18 + 15 + 21 + 16 + 15 + 14 + 15 + 21) 135

𝑥ҧ = = = 16.875
8 8

ഥ ≈ 𝟏𝟔. 𝟖𝟖
𝒙
 Eight friends in a math class received test scores of 18, 15, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, and 21.
b. Find the median.

To get the median, the data must be arranged in an ascending order.

Since 𝑛 = 8, then 𝑛 is even and there are two middle numbers.

○ If 𝒏 is odd, the middle number
○ If 𝒏 is even, the mean of the two middle number

14, 15, 15, 15, 16, 18, 21, 21

𝟏𝟓 + 𝟏𝟔
෥=
𝒙 = 𝟏𝟓. 𝟓
𝟐
 Eight friends in a math class received test scores of 18, 15, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, and 21.
c. Find the mode and determine the type of mode.

In the data set: 14, 15, 15, 15, 16, 18, 21, 21, the most frequent value
is 15 which appears three times in the set. Hence, it is the mode.

𝒙𝒐 = 𝟏𝟓

Type of mode: Unimodal

(Since there is only one mode in the data set)
GROUPED DATA (FDT)

 Mean 𝒙
ഥ
σ 𝑓𝑋
sample mean: 𝑥ҧ =
𝑛

● 𝑓 = frequency of the class

● 𝑋 = class mark of the class
● 𝑛 = sample size
GROUPED DATA (FDT)

 Median 𝒙
෥
Median class (md): the class interval where <CF is greater than or equal
𝑛
to 2 for the first time
𝒏
− < 𝑪𝑭𝒃
෥ = 𝑳𝑪𝑫𝒎𝒅 + 𝑪
𝒙 𝟐
𝒇𝒎𝒅

● 𝐿𝐶𝐵𝑚𝑑 = lower class boundary of the median class

● 𝐶 = class size (length of the class interval)
● 𝑛 = sample size
● 𝑓𝑚𝑑 = frequency of the median class
● < 𝐶𝐹𝑏 = less than cumulative frequency before the median class
GROUPED DATA (FDT)

 Mode 𝒙𝒐
Modal class (mo): the class interval with the highest frequency
𝒇𝒎𝒐 − 𝒇𝒃
𝒙𝒐 = 𝑳𝑪𝑫𝒎𝒐 + 𝑪
𝟐𝒇𝒎𝒐 − 𝒇𝒃 − 𝒇𝒂

● 𝐿𝐶𝐵𝑚𝑜 = lower class boundary of the modal class

● 𝐶 = class size (length of the class interval)
● 𝑓𝑚𝑜 = frequency of the modal class
● 𝑓𝑏 = frequency before modal class
● 𝑓𝑎 = frequency after modal class
Note: - median class and the modal class can be on the
same or different classes and modal class can be
more than one class.

- if the modal class is the first class, then 𝑓𝑏 = 0

and if the modal class is the last class, then 𝑓𝑎 = 0.
Example 2

Class Interval 𝒇 𝑿 𝑳𝑪𝑩 < 𝑪𝑭 𝒇𝑿

15 − 22 7 18.5 14.5 7 129.5
23 − 30 8 26.5 22.5 15 212
31 − 38 5 34.5 30.5 20 172.5
39 − 46 12 42.5 38.5 32 510
47 − 54 6 50.5 46.5 38 303
𝑛 = 38 σ 𝑓𝑋 = 1,327

Find the mean, median, and mode of the grouped data.

 Class
𝒇 𝑿 𝑳𝑪𝑩 < 𝑪𝑭 𝒇𝑿
Interval
15 − 22 7 18.5 14.5 7 129.5
23 − 30 8 26.5 22.5 15 212
31 − 38 5 34.5 30.5 20 172.5
39 − 46 12 42.5 38.5 32 510
47 − 54
σ 𝑓𝑋 1327
6 50.5 46.5 38 303
𝑥ҧ = = = 34.9210526
𝑛 = 38 σ 𝑓𝑋 = 1,327 𝑛 38
Find the mean.
ഥ ≈ 𝟑𝟒. 𝟗𝟐
𝒙
● σ 𝑓𝑋 = 1327
● 𝑛 = 38
 Class
𝒇 𝑿 𝑳𝑪𝑩 < 𝑪𝑭 𝒇𝑿
Interval
15 − 22 7 18.5 14.5 7 129.5
23 − 30 8 26.5 22.5 15 212
31 − 38 5 34.5 30.5 20 172.5 Median class
39 − 46 12 42.5 38.5 32 510
47 − 54 6 50.5 46.5 38 303
𝑛 = 38 σ 𝑓𝑋 = 1,327

Find the median.

Median class: The median class is class interval 31 – 48.

𝑛 38
2
=
2
= 19 We will use the data of the median class
19 is in < 20, therefore the median to get the median of the grouped data.
class is 31 – 38.
 Class
𝒇 𝑿 𝑳𝑪𝑩 < 𝑪𝑭 𝒇𝑿
Interval
15 − 22 7 18.5 14.5 7 129.5
23 − 30 8 26.5 22.5 15 212
31 − 38 5 34.5 30.5 20 172.5 Median class
39 − 46 12 42.5 38.5 32 510
𝑛
47 − 54 6 50.5 46.5 38 303 − < 𝐶𝐹𝑏
𝑥෤ = 𝐿𝐶𝐷𝑚𝑑 + 𝐶 2
𝑛 = 38 σ 𝑓𝑋 = 1,327
𝑓𝑚𝑑
Find the median.

● 𝐿𝐶𝐵𝑚𝑑 = 30.5 38
− 15
● 𝐶=8 𝑥෤ = 30.5 + 8 2
● 𝑛 = 38 5
● 𝑓𝑚𝑑 = 5
● < 𝐶𝐹𝑏 = 15 ෥ = 𝟑𝟔. 𝟗
𝒙
Step-by-step calculation of the median
𝑛
− < 𝐶𝐹𝑏
𝑥෤ = 𝐿𝐶𝐷𝑚𝑑 + 𝐶 2
𝑓𝑚𝑑
38 𝑛
− 15 − < 𝐶𝐹𝑏
𝑥෤ = 30.5 + 8 2 𝑥෤ = 𝐿𝐶𝐷𝑚𝑑 + 𝐶 2
5 𝑓𝑚𝑑
෥
𝒙 = 𝟑𝟔. 𝟗 38
− 15
𝑥෤ = 30.5 + 8 2
5

Using normal calculator (make sure to 19 − 15

𝑥෤ = 30.5 + 8
5
use the correct groupings):
4
𝑥෤ = 30.5 + 8
5
𝑥෤ = 30.5 + (8 × ( 38 ÷ 2) − 15 ÷ 5)
𝑥෤ = 30.5 + 8(0.8)
𝑥෤ = 36.9 𝑥෤ = 30.5 + 6.4
෥
𝒙 = 𝟑𝟔. 𝟗
 Class
𝒇 𝑿 𝑳𝑪𝑩 < 𝑪𝑭 𝒇𝑿
Interval
15 − 22 7 18.5 14.5 7 129.5
23 − 30 8 26.5 22.5 15 212
31 − 38 5 34.5 30.5 20 172.5
39 − 46 12 42.5 38.5 32 510 Modal class
47 − 54 6 50.5 46.5 38 303
𝑛 = 38 σ 𝑓𝑋 = 1,327

Find the mode.

Modal class: The modal class is class interval 39 – 46.

Class interval that has the
highest frequency We will use the data of the modal class
to get the mode of the grouped data.
𝑓 = 12, then the modal class is
39 – 46.
 Class
𝒇 𝑿 𝑳𝑪𝑩 < 𝑪𝑭 𝒇𝑿
Interval
15 − 22 7 18.5 14.5 7 129.5
23 − 30 8 26.5 22.5 15 212
31 − 38 5 34.5 30.5 20 172.5
39 − 46 12 42.5 38.5 32 510 Modal class
47 − 54 6 50.5 46.5 38 303
𝑛 = 38 σ 𝑓𝑋 = 1,327 𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑏
𝑥𝑜 = 𝐿𝐶𝐷𝑚𝑜 + 𝐶
Find the mode. 2𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑏 − 𝑓𝑎

● 𝐿𝐶𝐵𝑚𝑜 = 38.5
● 𝐶=8
12 − 5
𝑥𝑜 = 38.5 + 8
● 𝑓𝑚𝑜 = 12 2 12 − 5 − 6
● 𝑓𝑏 = 5
● 𝑓𝑎 = 6
𝑥 𝑜 = 42.80769231
𝒙𝒐 ≈ 𝟒𝟐. 𝟖𝟏
Step-by-step calculation of the mode
𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑏
𝑥 𝑜 = 𝐿𝐶𝐷𝑚𝑜 + 𝐶
2𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑏 − 𝑓𝑎
12 − 5
𝑥 𝑜 = 38.5 + 8 𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑏
2 12 − 5 − 6 𝑥 𝑜 = 𝐿𝐶𝐷𝑚𝑜 + 𝐶
𝑜
2𝑓𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓𝑏 − 𝑓𝑎
𝑥 = 42.80769231
12 − 5
𝒙𝒐 ≈ 𝟒𝟐. 𝟖𝟏 𝑥 𝑜 = 38.5 + 8
2 12 − 5 − 6
7
𝑥 𝑜 = 38.5 + 8
Using normal calculator (make sure to use the 24 − 5 − 6
correct groupings): 7
𝑥 𝑜 = 38.5 + 8
13
𝑥 𝑜 = 48.5 + (8 × ( 12 − 5 ÷ ((2 × 12) − 5 − 6))) 𝑥 𝑜 = 38.5 + 8 0.5384615385
𝑥 𝑜 = 38.5 + 4.307692308
𝑥 𝑜 = 42.80769231 ≈ 42.81
𝑥 𝑜 = 42.80769231
𝒙𝒐 ≈ 𝟒𝟐. 𝟖𝟏