Sec 2.

4 – Measures of Central Tendency

Mode Most common value

A value
“Centre”
around Mean Average value
can mean
which
many
data is
things
centred
Median “Middle data point”.
50% of the data points
are smaller or equal to
it.
 16, 14, 15, 17, 17, 17,
Example 16, 18, 42, 17, 14, 13

Notation: mean = 𝑥ҧ
Pronounced “X-bar”

σ 𝑥𝑖
Mean 𝑥ҧ =
𝑛
16 + 14 + ⋯ + 14 + 13
= = 18
12
 16, 14, 15, 17, 17, 17,
Mode 16, 18, 42, 17, 14, 13

The most common value is 17.

Median Step 1: Put the data in ascending order

13, 14, 14, 15, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 17, 18, 42

𝑛 + 1 13
Step 2: Find the position of the median, Me. = = 6.5
2 2
Step 3: Count the number of points till you get to the position

13, 14, 14, 15, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 17, 18, 42

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The 6.5th position is here

16+17
Median: = 16.5
2
 What happens if the
number 13 is removed?

𝑛+1 11+1
Position: = =6
2 2

14, 14, 15, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 17, 18, 42

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

6th position. So Me = 17
 Mean Vs Median

Good when… Good when…

• Data is symmetric • Data is not symmetric

• No outliers • Has outliers

Values that are “too big” or

“too small” when compared
to the rest of the values
Example continued

13, 14, 14, 15, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 17, 18, 42

Mean = 18

Mode = 17

Median = 16.5
Mode Used when the most common value/response
is wanted/suitable

If no value The data can

occurs more have more
than once, it If 2 values occur
most frequently, than 2 modes.
has no mode
the data is
“bimodal”. Example:
Example: 21 , 21 , 35 , 17 ,
21 , 34 , 10 , 16 Example: 17 , 16 , 35 , 19
21 , 34 , 34 , 16 , 21 , 13, 37
Example: Service satisfaction

You ask 9 people to rate the 1 = very good

service at a local restaurant. 2 = good
3 = average
A Likert scale is used to 4 = poor
“measure” their responses. 5 = very poor
The responses you receive are:

Good, good, average,

Bad, good, very good,
Bad, average, very bad

How many of each?

Very good 1
The most
Good 3
common
Average 2 Mode = Good
response was
Bad 2 “good”
Very bad 1
 Codes:
Responses:
What about the mean? 1 = very good
Good, good, average,
2 = good
Bad, good, very good,
3 = average
Bad, average, very bad
σ𝑥 4 = poor
𝑥ҧ = 5 = very poor
𝑛

2 + 2 + 3 + ⋯+ 3 + 5
=
9
What response is
= 2.4 between “bad” and
“average”?
?
 Weighted Mean

Used when not all

the data points are
𝒙𝒊 is the data point equally important.

σ 𝑥𝑖 𝑤𝑖
𝑥𝑤 = 𝒘𝒊 is the
σ 𝑤𝑖
weight for 𝒙𝒊
 Example
W1 𝒙𝟏
Calculation W2 𝒙𝟐
of you final W3 𝒙𝟑
stat130 W4 𝒙𝟒
mark W5 𝒙𝟓
W6 𝒙𝟔

65 10 + 63 20 + 72 20 + 58 20 + 70 20 + (86)(10)
𝑥ҧ =
10 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 20 + 10

= 67.7
Mean for grouped data Estimate the unknown 𝑥𝑖
with the midpoints

𝒙𝒎𝒊𝒅(𝒊)
𝒌 = number of classes
𝒎𝒊

෍ 𝒎𝒊 𝒇𝒊
ഥ=
𝒙 𝒊=𝟏
Frequencies
𝒏
Example
σ𝑘𝑖=1 𝑚𝑖 𝑓𝑖
𝑥ҧ =
𝑛

17.5 3 +⋯+(41.5)(10)
=
53

= 31.877
 Mean, Median and Mode : Raw Data

Mean = 𝐴𝑉𝐸𝑅𝐴𝐺𝐸 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑦

Step 2:
Step 1: Type in
Enter the Excel
Median = 𝑀𝐸𝐷𝐼𝐴𝑁 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑦
data command

Mode = 𝑀𝑂𝐷𝐸 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑦

Mean, Median and Mode : Raw Data
 Mean : Grouped Data

Numerator:
= 𝑆𝑈𝑀𝑃𝑅𝑂𝐷𝑈𝐶𝑇 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑦 1 ; 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑦 2

σ𝑘𝑖=1 𝑚𝑖 𝑓𝑖 Frequencies Midpoints

𝑥ҧ =
𝑛

Denominator: 𝑆𝑈𝑀 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑦 1

 STEP 1:
Enter data

STEP 2:
Calculate the
midpoint values

STEP 3:
Type in the Excel
Function

STEP 4:
Press Enter