Measures of Central Tendency

Consider the Measurements and Frequency Table

Generated in the previous lecture
87, 85, 79, 75, 81, 88, 92, 86, 77, 72, 75, 77, 81, 80, 77,
73, 69, 71, 76, 79, 83, 81, 78, 75, 68, 67, 71, 73, 78, 75,
84, 81, 79, 82, 87, 89, 85, 81, 79, 77, 81, 78, 74, 76, 82,
85, 86, 81, 72, 69, 65, 71, 73, 78, 81, 77, 74, 77, 72, 68
Class Class Midpoint Total Frequency
64.5 - 69.5 67 6 0.100
69.5 – 74.5 72 11 0. 183
74.5 – 79.5 77 20 0.333
79.5 – 84.5 82 13 0.217
84.5 – 89.5 87 9 0.150
89.5 – 94.5 92 1 0.0167
 Measures of Central Tendency

We have determined that the lowest and highest readings

in this set of measurements are:
•Low = 65
•High = 92

This gives a range = 92 – 25 = 27

The simplest measurement of central tendency in this
population is the midrange.

Define: midrange = (low value + high value)/2

Midrange = (65 + 92)/2 = 157/2 = 78.5

 Measures of Central Tendency

The most descriptive measure of central tendency in a

population is its mean, because the mean of a sample taken
from the population can be shown to be predictive of the
population mean within some range determined by the
sampling error.

Define the population mean by the formula

μ = Σi xi/N where
μ = the population mean
Σi xi = the sum over each member of the population
xi
N = the number of items in the population
 Measures of Central Tendency

For the 60 temperature readings in this population we

obtain:
87, 85, 79, 75, 81, 88, 92, 86, 77, 72, 75, 77, 81, 80, 77,
73, 69, 71, 76, 79, 83, 81, 78, 75, 68, 67, 71, 73, 78, 75,
84, 81, 79, 82, 87, 89, 85, 81, 79, 77, 81, 78, 74, 76, 82,
85, 86, 81, 72, 69, 65, 71, 73, 78, 81, 77, 74, 77, 72, 68

μ = (87+85+ 79 +….+72+68)/60 = 4751/60 = 79.183

 Measures of Central Tendency
A third measure of central tendency is the median
The median of a population of size N is found by
1. Arranging the individual measurements in ascending
order, and
2. If N is odd, selecting the value in the middle of this list as
the median (there will be the same number of values
above and below the median)
3. If N is even find the values at position N/2 and N/2 + 1 in
this list (call them xN/2 and xN/2+1) and let median be given
by the formula median = (xN/2 + xN/2+1)/2 or be the value
halfway between these two measurements.
Note! When N is even the median will usually not be an
actual value in the population
 Measures of Central Tendency
We now find the median of the population of temperature
readings
87, 85, 79, 75, 81, 88, 92, 86, 77, 72, 75, 77, 81, 80, 77,
73, 69, 71, 76, 79, 83, 81, 78, 75, 68, 67, 71, 73, 78, 75,
84, 81, 79, 82, 87, 89, 85, 81, 79, 77, 81, 78, 74, 76, 82,
85, 86, 81, 72, 69, 65, 71, 73, 78, 81, 77, 74, 77, 72, 68
Arrange these 60 measurements in ascending order

65, 67, 68, 68, 69, 69, 71, 71, 71, 72, 72, 72, 73, 73, 73,
74, 74, 75, 75, 75, 75, 76, 76, 77, 77, 77, 77, 77, 77, 78,
78, 78, 78, 79, 79, 79, 79, 80, 81, 81, 81, 81, 81, 81, 81,
81, 82, 82, 83, 84, 85, 85, 85, 86, 86, 87, 87, 88, 89, 92
Since N/2 = 30 and both the 30th and 31st values in the list are
the same, we obtain median = 78
 Measures of Central Tendency
One further parameter of a population that may give some
indication of central tendency of the data is the mode

Define: mode = most frequently occurring value in the

population

From the previous data we see:

65, 67, 68, 68, 69, 69, 71, 71, 71, 72, 72, 72, 73, 73, 73,
74, 74, 75, 75, 75, 75, 76, 76, 77, 77, 77, 77, 77, 77, 78,
78, 78, 78, 79, 79, 79, 79, 80, 81, 81, 81, 81, 81, 81, 81,
81, 82, 82, 83, 84, 85, 85, 85, 86, 86, 87, 87, 88, 89, 92
That the value 81 occurs 8 times mode = 81

Note! If two different values were to occur most frequently, the

distribution would be bimodal. A distribution may be multi-modal.
 Measures of Central Tendency
Next we show where each of these parameters occur in the
frequency distribution graph for this tabulated data.
Frequency %
42
39 Mean = 79.183
36
33 x Median = 78
30
27 Midrange = 78.5
24
Mode = 81
21 x
18 x
15 x
12
9 x
6
3 median mean
0 x
67 72 77 82 87 92 Temperature
 Measures of Central Tendency

In the previous pages we have calculated the mean from the

raw data. We can also use the tabulated data to calculate the
mean of the population

Use the formula

μ = Σi(fi * xi) / Σi fi

Where xi = the midpoint of the ith class

and fi = the number of items in the ith class
 Measures of Central Tendency
From the table we obtain
Class Class Midpoint (x) Total (f) Frequency f*x
64.5 - 69.5 67 6 0.100 402
69.5 – 74.5 72 11 0. 183 792
74.5 – 79.5 77 20 0.333 1540
79.5 – 84.5 82 13 0.217 1066
84.5 – 89.5 87 9 0.150 783
89.5 – 94.5 92 1 0.0167 92
60 4675

μ = Σi(fi * xi) / Σi fi = 4675/60 = 77.917

The small discrepancy between these two values for the mean is due to the
way the data is accumulated into classes. The mean of the raw data is more
accurate, the mean of the tabulated data is often more convenient to obtain.