PNG University of Technology

Mathematics & Computer Science

Department

MA 339
LECTURE 5
Measures of Central
Tendency and Dispersions 1
 Part 2
2. Statistical Measures for grouped
data

The various measures of central

tendency and dispersion for grouped
data will be developed with
reference to Example 2 below.
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Example 2
Let us calculate appropriate measures
of central tendency and dispersion of
profitability for the sample of 50
major Australian financial institutions
using the summarised data of table 2,
which is presented again below.

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Table 2. Frequency distribution of profitability of a
sample of 50 major Australian financial institutions.

Real Class Limit Frequency

-0.005 – 0.995 8
0.995 – 1.995 10
1.995 – 2.995 9
2.995 – 3.995 7
3.995 – 4.995 6
4.995 – 9.995 10
Total 50
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2.1 Measures of Central Tendency
The Mean
The mean is the total of the observed
values, divided by the sample size. In this
example in Table 2, we found that the
sample size is

Where is the frequency in class and

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How to calculate the mean for the grouped
frequency distribution.

Where ,

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 Real Class Frequency Mid-point
Limit () ()
-0.005
-0.005 –– 0.995
0.995 8
8 0.495
0.495 3.96
3.96
0.995 – 1.995 10 1.495 14.95
0.995 – 1.995 10 1.495 14.95
1.995 – 2.995 9 2.495 22.45
1.995
2.995 –– 2.995
3.995 9
7 2.495
3.495 22.45
24.49
2.995
3.995 –– 3.995
4.995 7
6 3.495
4.495 24.49
26.97
3.995
4.995 – 4.995
9.995 6
10 4.495
7.495 26.97
74.95
4.995Total
– 9.995 50
10 7.495 =167.75
74.95
Total

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  ∑ 𝑓 𝑖 𝑥 𝑖 ∑ ( 𝑓 𝑖 𝑥 𝑖) 167.75
´𝑥 = = = =3.3550
∑ 𝑓𝑖 𝑛 50

 
The median
Me

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Where
 locates the median class.
 is the lower real limit of the class containing
the median.
 is the frequency in the class containing the
median.
 is the cumulative frequency of observations
below the median class
 is the width of the median class

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 To
calculate the median of example 2.
Median Class is highlighted in yellow background colour.

• , 25th observation is in the class 1.995 – 2.995.

• 1.995
• 9
• 18
• 1
Hence,

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Quartile and allied concepts
Just as the median divides the freq. into halves, so the
quartile divide the distribution into quarters. We noted
that 2nd quartile is the median, so here

First Quartile, has

While has

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By inspection of Table 1, it is suggested that the first
quartile occurs somewhere in class 2. Intuitively, if the
observations are spread uniformly throughout the class,
can be calculated as follows;

Similarly, inspections reveal that occurs somewhere in

class 4. Intuitively, if the observations are spread
uniformly throughout the class, can be calculated as
follows;

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 The Mode
In grouped data, the mode or most common value
occurs in the class with the greatest frequency per unit
of class width – called the modal class.

Formula for Mode

Mo
 

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Where
 is the lower real limit of the modal class.
 is the frequency of the modal class.
 is the frequency of the class immediately
below the modal class.
 is the frequency of the class immediately
above the modal class.
 is the width of the modal class .

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To calculate the mode of example 2.
Model Class is highlighted in red background colour.

• 10
• 8
• 9

Hence,
Mo

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The Measures of Dispersion
The Range
A number of measures of dispersion maybe
derived for grouped data, the simplest being the
range. This is often taken as a difference
between the upper class limit of the highest
class and the lower class limit of the lowest
class. Thus for the data in example 2,

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Interquartile range and quartile deviation
The interquartile range is defined as;

Which from the earlier calculations of

And the quartile deviation is defined as;

Which from the above calculation

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The Mean Absolute Deviation
Measures of dispersion based on departures from the
mean are again available. Since the sum of deviations
about the mean is zero;
that ie: =0,

we must again resort to devices such as taking

absolute values of squaring to obtain a none-zero
measure.
The Mean Absolute deviation for grouped data is
given by:

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The Variance and Standard Deviation
The variance for grouped data is defined as;

Where denotes the mid-value and denotes the

frequency and is same as

Alternative formula

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 The Variance and Standard Deviation

The standard deviation for grouped data is defined as;

Where denotes the mid-value and denotes the frequency and

is same as
Alternative formula

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