Measure of Central

Tendency
BY
DR. MARYAM SUBHANI
 Measures of Central Tendency
 Measures of Central Tendency are usually known as averages

 They give us an idea about concentration of the values in the central

part of the distribution

 Following are the three measures of central Tendencies that are

commonly used

i) Arithmetic mean

ii) Median

iii) Mode

 Measure of Central Tendency

• Arithmetic • Median • Mode

Mean

The middle Most

Average of the commonly
value of the
data occurring
data
value
Mean
 Mean locate the centre of distribution

 Also known as arithmetic mean

 Most Common Measure

 This mean is simply the sum if the values divided by the total number
of items in the set

 Affected by extreme Values


Merits
 It is easy to understand and easy to calculate

 It is based upon all the observations

 It is familiar to common man and rigidly defined

 It is capable of further mathematical treatment

 It is affected by sampling fluctuations. Hence it is more stable


Demerits
 It cannot be determined by inspection

 Arithmetic mean cannot be used if we are dealing with qualitative

characteristics, which cannot be measured quantitatively like caste,
religion etc.

 It cannot be obtained if a single observation is missing or lost

 Arithmetic mean is very much affected by extreme values

Measure of Central Tendency

Mean =
Mean (Ungrouped Data)
 Birth weight of new born are:

 3.1, 6.1, 5.8, 3.8, 2.7, 4.1, 3.4, 3.9, 5.1,3

= 4.1 kg



 Mean (Grouped data)
 A survey of 100 families each having five children, revealed the following distribution

 No. of male children 0 1 2 3 4 5

 No of families 9 24 35 24 6 2

 Find the Mean of male children

X f f.X

0 9 0

1 24 24

2 35 70

4 6 24 Mean = X= = = 2

5 2 10
Mean (Grouped data)
 Find mean days of confinement after delivery in the following
series
 Days of confinement No of Patients

6 5

7 4

8 4

9 3

10 2
Mean(Grouped data)
 Day of confinement No of patients f*x
(x) (f)

6 5 30

7 4 28

8 4 32

9 3 27

10 2 20

Mean = X= = = 7.61
Median
 Measure of Central tendency

 The median is determined by sorting the data set from lowest to highest
values and taking the data point in the middle of the sequence

 Not effected by extreme values

 Middle Value in ordered sequence

If Odd n, middle value of the Sequence

If Even n, Average value of 2 Middle Value

Merits
 Rigidly defined

 Easy to understand and easy to calculate

 Not affected by extreme values

 Can be calculated for distributions with open end classes

 It is the only average to be used while dealing with quantitative data

 Can be determined graphically

Demerits
 In case of even number of observations median cannot be determined
exactly

 It is not based on all observations

 It is not capable for further mathematical treatment


 Median (Ungrouped data)
 Step- 1

Arrange data in ascending or descending order

 Step-2

If total no. of observations ‘ n’ is odd then used the following formula for median

 observation

 Step-3
 If total no. of observations ‘n’ is even then use the following formula

Median = Arithmetic mean of two middle observations


Median
 If are n observations arranged in ascending order of magnitude.

 Median =
Median (Ungrouped data)
 Calculate the median for the following series:

2, 3, 5, 1, 4, 5, 8
Rearranging our data
1, 2, 3 4, 5, 5 , 8

Median = 7+1/2
= 4th term
Median (Ungrouped data)
 The data on pulse rate per minute of 10 health individuals are 82, 79, 60, 76,
63, 81, 68, 74, 60, 75

 Re-arranging

60, 60, 63, 68, 74, 75, 76, 79, 81, 82

n=10

Median = 74+75/2

= 74.5
Median (Ungrouped data)

 Find out the median for the number of sports injuries

happened in cricket in all teams

 37, 57, 65, 46, 12, 14, 19, 23, 56, 78, 5, 33

SELF EXERCISE
Median (Grouped data)
Median (Grouped data)
 Find the median weight of 590 infants born in a hospital in one year
from the following table
●
Weight of infants in Kg ●
No of infants
●
2.0 --- 2.5 ●
37
●
2.5 --- 3.0 ●
117
●
3.0 --- 3.5 ●
207
●
3.5 --- 4.0 ●
155
●
4.0 --- 4.5 ●
48
●
4.5 ---- above ●
26
Median (Grouped data)
 Find the median weight of 590 infants born in a hospital in one year from
the following table

●
Weight of infants in Kg ●
No of infants ●
Cumulative

frequency
●
2.0 --- 2.5 ●
37 ●
37
●
2.5 --- 3.0 ●
117 ●
37+117 = 154
●
3.0 --- 3.5 ●
207 ●
154+207 = 361
●
3.5 --- 4.0 ●
155 ●
361+155 = 516
●
4.0 --- 4.5 ●
48 ●
516+ 48 = 564
●
4.5 ---- above ●
26 ●
564+ 26 =590
Median (Grouped data)
 N/2 = 590/2 =295 Median Class = 3.0 – 3.5 L=3 F=207 Cf=154

 h=0.5

 Median for grouped data is

M= 3 + (295-154) * 0.5

207

M = 3.34 median weight

Median (Grouped data)
 Calculate the median for following data Series

●
Class Interval ●
Frequency
●
5 -- 9 ●
2
●
10 – 14 ●
11
●
15 – 19 ●
26
●
20 – 24 ●
17
●
25 – 29 ●
8
●
30 – 34 ●
6
●
35 – 39 ●
3
●
40 – 44 ●
2
●
45 -- 49 ●
1
Median (Grouped data)
 Calculate the median for following data Series

●
Class Interval ●
Frequency ●
Cumulative
Frequency
●
5 -- 9 ●
2 ●
2
●
10 – 14 ●
11 ●
13
●
15 – 19 ●
26 ●
39
●
20 – 24 ●
17 ●
56
●
25 – 29 ●
8 ●
64
●
30 – 34 ●
6 ●
70
●
35 – 39 ●
3 ●
73
●
40 – 44 ●
2 ●
75
●
45 -- 49 ●
1 ●
76
Median (Grouped data)
 N= 76

 I= lower limit of class interval where median occur = 15

 h= Width of the median class = 4

 F= frequency of the class where the median occurs= 26

 C= cumulative frequency of the class preceding the median class = 13







Mode
 Measure of Central Tendency

 The mode is the most frequently occurring value in the data set

 May be no mode or several mode

Merits
 Mode is readily comprehensible and easy to calculate

 Not effected by extreme values

 Can be conveniently located even if frequency distribution has class

interval of un equal magnitude

 Open end classes also don not pose any problem in the location of mode

 Mode is the average to be used to find the ideal size


Demerits
 Mode is ill defined

 It is not based upon all the observations

 It is not capable of further mathematical treatment

 As compared with mean, mode is affected to a great extent by

fluctuations of sampling
Mode (Example)
 No Mode

Raw data: 10.3 4.9 8.9 11.7 6.3 7.7

 One Mode

Raw data: 6.3 4.9 8.9 6.3 4.9 4.9

 More than One Mode

Raw Data: 21 28 28 41 43 43
Mode (Ungrouped Data)
 2 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 6 , 7 , 4 , 4 , 4 , 4, 8 , 9 , 0 Mode is 4


 10, 10, 3, 3, 4, 2, 1, 6, 7 Mode is 10 and 3



 10, 34, 23, 12, 11, 3, 4 No Mode

Mode (Grouped data)
Mode (Grouped data)
 Find the Mode of the group data

●
Age Group ●
No . of persons
●
20- - -30 ●
3
●
30 - - -40 ●
20
●
40 - - -50 ●
27
●
50 - - -60 ●
15
●
60 - - -70 ●
9
 Mode (Grouped data)
●
C1 ●
Frequency (F)
●
20 - -30 ●
3 F1
●
30 - -40 ●
20
L1
●
40 - -50 ●
27
Fm
●
50 - -60 ●
15
●
60 - -70 ●
9
F2
Mode (Grouped data)

 Mode = L1 + * c


Mode = 40 + * 10

Mode = 40 + 70/19

= 43.68
Mode (Grouped data)
 Calculate mode of the following frequency distribution

●
IQ Range ●
Frequency
●
90 - - 100 ●
11
●
100 - - 110 ●
27
●
110 - - 120 ●
36
●
120 - -130 ●
38
●
130 - -140 ●
43
●
140 - -150 ●
28
●
150 - - 160 ●
16
●
160 - - 170 ●
1
Mode (Grouped data)

 Modal Class by inspection is 130 – 140

 Fm = 43
 F1 = 38
 F2 = 28
 C =10
 I = 130
Mode = L1 + * c


= 130.65
Relation Between Mean,
Median and Mode


Mode = 3(Median) – 2 (Mean)

Summary of Central Tendency
measures
●
Measure ●
Description
●
Mean ●
Balance Point
●
Median ●
Middle Value when ordered
●
Mode ●
Most frequent
 Mean, Median and Mode (Example)
●
Age Group ●
No of Corona Patients
●
25 - - 30 ●
4
●
30 - - 35 ●
3
●
35 - - 40 ●
2
●
40 - - 45 ●
3
●
45 - -50 ●
4
●
50 - - 55 ●
8
●
55 - -60 ●
6
Mean, Median and Mode (Example)

●
Age Group ●
No of ●
X ●
F*x ●
C.F
Corona
Patients
(F)
●
25 - - 30 ●
4 ●
27.5 ●
110 ●
4
●
30 - - 35 ●
3 ●
32.5 ●
97.5 ●
7
●
35 - - 40 ●
2 ●
37.5 ●
75 ●
9
●
40 - - 45 ●
3 ●
42.5 ●
127.5 ●
12
●
45 - -50 ●
4 ●
47.5 ●
190 ●
16
●
50 - - 55 ●
8 ●
52.5 ●
420 ●
24
●
55 - -60 ●
6 ●
57.5 ●
345 ●
30
Mean, Median, Mode (Example)
 Mean = 1365/30 = 45.5

 Mode = 45+ (15-12)*5 = 48.75
4

 Mode = 50 +[ (8-4)*5 / (2*8-4-6)} = 53.34

Mean, Median , Mode (Example)
 The Following Table Gives the frequency distribution of marks obtained by
2300 medical student of Islamabad in MCQ of PSM exam. Find Mean
Median and Mode
 ●
Marks ●
No of students
 ●
11- 20 ●
141
 ●
21- 30 ●
221
 ●
21- 40 ●
439

●
41-50 ●
529

●
51-60 ●
495
●
61-70 ●
322
 ●
71-80 ●
153

Self Exercise
