LESSON 5

MEASURES OF
CENTRAL TENDENCY
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
•These are statistical measures used primarily
to summarize a set of data.
•The most common measures of central
tendency are the (arithmetic) mean, median,
and mode.
ARITHMETIC MEAN/AVERAGE
•The mean is the sum of the values in a
dataset, divided by the total number of
values.
•The symbol for mean is
EXAMPLE:
• The data represent the number of days off per
year for a sample of individuals selected from
nine different countries. Find the mean.
20, 26, 40, 36, 23, 42, 35, 24, 30
EXAMPLE:
• The data show the number of patients in a
sample of six hospitals who acquired an infection
while hospitalized. Find the mean.
110, 76, 29, 38, 105, 31
MEDIAN
•The median is the halfway point in a data set
•It divides the dataset into two equal groups
•The symbol for median is MD
STEPS IN COMPUTING MEDIAN
If the total number of values (n) in the data is
ODD:
STEP 1: Arrange the data from lowest to
highest
Step 2: Select the middle value
EXAMPLE
The number of rooms in seven hotels is 713, 300,
618, 595, 311, 401, and 292. Find the median.
EXAMPLE:
The number of rooms in seven hotels is 713, 300,
618, 595, 311, 401, and 292. Find the median.
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
292, 300, 311, 401, 595, 618, 713
EXAMPLE:
The number of rooms in seven hotels is 713, 300,
618, 595, 311, 401, and 292. Find the median.
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
292, 300, 311, 401, 595, 618, 713
STEP 2: Select the middle value
292, 300, 311, 401, 595, 618, 713
EXAMPLE:
The number of rooms in seven hotels is 713, 300,
618, 595, 311, 401, and 292. Find the median.
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
292, 300, 311, 401, 595, 618, 713
STEP 2: Select the middle value
292, 300, 311, 401, 595, 618, 713
The median is 401 rooms.
EXAMPLE:
Find the median for the daily vehicle pass charge
for five parks. The costs are 25, 15, 15, 20, and 15.
EXAMPLE:
Find the median for the daily vehicle pass charge
for five parks. The costs are 25, 15, 15, 20, and 15.
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
15, 15, 15, 20, 25
EXAMPLE:
Find the median for the daily vehicle pass charge
for five parks. The costs are 25, 15, 15, 20, and 15.
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
15, 15, 15, 20, 25
STEP 2: Select the middle value
15, 15, 15, 20, 25
The median cost is 15.
STEPS IN COMPUTING MEDIAN
If the total number of values (n) in the data is
EVEN:
STEP 1: Arrange the data from lowest to
highest
Step 2: Select the two middle values
Step 3: Add the two values then divide it by 2
EXAMPLE:
The number of tornadoes that have occurred in
the United States over an 8-year period follows.
Find the median. 684, 764, 656, 702, 856, 1133,
1132, 1303
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
EXAMPLE:
The number of tornadoes that have occurred in
the United States over an 8-year period follows.
Find the median. 684, 764, 656, 702, 856, 1133,
1132, 1303
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
656, 684, 702, 764, 856, 1132, 1133, 1303
EXAMPLE:
The number of tornadoes that have occurred in the
United States over an 8-year period follows. Find
the median. 684, 764, 656, 702, 856, 1133, 1132,
1303
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
656, 684, 702, 764, 856, 1132, 1133, 1303
STEP 2: Select the two middle values
656, 684, 702, 764, 856, 1132, 1133, 1303
EXAMPLE:
The number of tornadoes that have occurred in the
United States over an 8-year period follows. Find
the median. 684, 764, 656, 702, 856, 1133, 1132,
1303
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
656, 684, 702, 764, 856, 1132, 1133, 1303
STEP 2: Select the two middle values
656, 684, 702, 764, 856, 1132, 1133, 1303
EXAMPLE:
Step 3: Add the two middle values then divide by 2
656, 684, 702, 764, 856, 1132, 1133, 1303

The median number of tornadoes is 810.

EXAMPLE:
The number of children with asthma during a
specific year in seven local districts is shown. Find
the median.
253, 125, 328, 417, 201, 70, 90, 80
EXAMPLE:
The number of children with asthma during a
specific year in eight local districts is shown. Find
the median.
253, 125, 328, 417, 201, 70, 90, 80
STEP 1: Arrange data from lowest to highest
70, 80, 90, 125, 201, 253, 328, 417 ,
EXAMPLE:
The number of children with asthma during a
specific year in seven local districts is shown. Find
the median.
253, 125, 328, 417, 201, 70, 90, 80
STEP 2: Select the two middle values
70, 80, 90, 125, 201, 253, 328, 417
EXAMPLE:
The number of children with asthma during a
specific year in seven local districts is shown. Find
the median.
STEP 3: Add the two middle values then divide by 2
70, 80, 90, 125, 201, 253, 328, 417
MODE
•The value that occurs most often in a data
set is called the mode.
• UNIMODAL: if the data have only one mode
• BIMODAL: if the data have two modes
• MULTIMODAL: if the data have more than two
modes
MODE
•The value that occurs most often in a data
set is called the mode.
• UNIMODAL: if the data have only one mode
• BIMODAL: if the data have two modes
• MULTIMODAL: if the data have more than two
modes
EXAMPLE:
•Find the mode of the final grade of 10
students for a specific quarter. The grades
are:
95, 97, 87, 85, 89, 91, 91, 92, 93, 91
Since 91 occurred 3 times, then the mode is 91.
EXAMPLE:
•Find the mode for the number of branches that
six banks have. 401, 344, 209, 201, 227, 353

•Since each value occurs only once, there is no

mode. Note: Do not say that the mode is
zero.
EXAMPLE:
•The data show the number of licensed nuclear reactors in
the United States for a recent 15-year period. Find the
mode.
104, 104, 104 ,104, 104
107, 109, 109, 109, 110
109, 111, 112, 111, 109
•Since the values 104 and 109 both occur 5 times, the
modes are 104 and 109. The data set is said to be bimodal.
QUIZ 1 WHOLE
Problem Solving. Show your solutions.
1. If the mean of five values is 64, find the sum of the values.
2. If the mean of five values is 8.2 and four of the values are 6, 10, 7, and 12, find
the fifth value.
3. The number of short-term parking spaces at 15 airports is shown.
750 203 1479 9822 700
3400 900 5905 1131 260
1962 8662 9239 690 260
Find the mean, median, mode.