CHAPTER THREE

MEASURES OF CENTERAL
TENDENCY
• When we want to make comparison between groups of
numbers it is good to have a single value that is considered
to be a good representative of each group.
• This single value is called the average of the group.
• Averages are also called measures of central tendency.
 Summation Notation
• Often mathematical formulae require the addition of many
variables Summation or sigma notation is a convenient
and simple form of shorthand used to give a concise
expression for a sum of the values of a variable.
• Let x1, x2, x3, …xn denote a set of n numbers. x1 is the first
number in the set. xi represents the ith number in the set.
 Summation notation involves:
• The summation sign
• This appears as the symbol, S, which is the Greek upper case letter, S.
• The summation sign, S, instructs us to sum the elements of a sequence.
• A typical element of the sequence which is being summed appears to the
right of the summation sign.
• The variable of summation, i.e. the variable which is being summed
• The variable of summation is represented by an index which is placed
beneath the summation sign.
• The index is often represented by i. (Other common possibilities for
representation of the index are j and t.)
• The index appears as the expression i = 1.
• The index assumes values starting with the value on the right hand side
of the equation and ending with the value above the summation sign.
• The starting point for the summation or the lower limit of the
summation
• The stopping point for the summation or the upper limit of summation
Some typical examples of summation
This expression means sum the values of x, starting at x1 and
ending with xn.

This expression means sum the values of x, starting at x1

and ending with x10.

This expression means sum the values of x, starting at x3

and ending with x10.
• Properties of Summation
• Example: considering the following data determine
X Y
5 6
7 7
7 8
6 7
8 8
a) X
i1
i  5  7  7  6  8  33
5 5
a)  X i e) ( Xi  Yi )
5

b) Y
i1
i  6  7 8  7 8  36
i1 i1 5

5 5
c) 10  5*10  50
i1

b) Yi f)  XiYi 5

i1 i1
d) ( X
i1
i  Yi )  (5  6)  (7  7)  (7  8)  (6  7)  (8  8)  69  33  36

5
5 5 e) ( X  Yi )  (5  6)  (7  7)  (7  8)  (6  7)  (8  8)  3  33  36
c) 10 g)  X i
i
2 i1

5
i1 i1 f)  XY
i1
i i  5 * 6  7 * 7  7 *8  6 * 7  8 *8  241
5 5 5 5

d) ( X i  Y i ) h) (  X i )(Y i ) X
2 2 2 2 2 2
g) i  5  7  7  6  8  223
i1
5 5
i1
h) (  X i )( Y i )  3 3 * 3 6  1 1 8 8
 Types of measures of central tendency
• There are several different measures of central tendency; each
has its advantage and disadvantage.
 The Mean (Arithmetic, Geometric and Harmonic)
 The Mode
 The Median
 Quantiles (Quartiles, Deciles and Percentiles)
1. The Arithmetic Mean
• Is defined as the sum of the magnitude of the items divided by
the number of items.
 The mean of X1, X2 ,X3 …Xn is denoted by A.M ,m or X and is
given by:
• If X1 occurs f1 times, if X2occurs f2 times, … , if Xn
occurs fn times

• Example: Obtain the mean of the following number 2, 7,

8, 2, 7, 3, 7
Xi fi Xifi

2 2 4
3 1 3
7 3 21
8 1 8
Total 7 36
 Arithmetic Mean for Grouped Data
• If data are given in the shape of a continuous frequency
distribution, then the mean is obtained as follows:

• Example: calculate the mean for the following age

distribution.
Class frequency
Solutions:
6- 10 35  First find the class
11- 15 23 marks
16- 20 15  Find the product of
21- 25 12 frequency and class
26- 30 9 marks
31- 35 6  Find mean using the
Class fi Xi Xifi
6- 10 35 8 280
11- 15 23 13 299
16- 20 15 18 270
21- 25 12 23 276
26- 30 9 28 252
31- 35 6 33 198
Total 100 1575