Arithmetic Mean

Definition of Arithmetic Mean/ Mean

It is the simply average of all series.

Or

Value obtained by adding together all the items and by dividing with total no. of items. It is also
called average.

It is most popular and widely used measure for representing entire data by one value.

Types
Simple Arithmetic Mean

Combined Mean

Weighted Arithmetic Mean

 Simple Arithmetic Mean

It is same as mean and obtained by dividing the sum of observation with total no. of observation/
simple average of all series.

Series

Individual Discrete Continuous

Individual Series
Such a series in which only one thing is given,

1. Direct Method
2. Short- cut Method

Direct Method
∑𝑋
𝑋̅ =
𝑛
Here, X = Sum of all observations
N = Total no. of observations
X may be Weight, Height, Marks etc.

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 X(Marks)
10
20
30
40
50
∑ X = 150
150
𝑋̅ = = 30
5

Short-cut Method
Formula

∑𝑑
𝑋̅ = A+
𝑛

Here, d(deviation) = X-A

A is Assumed no. / Assumed mean

A → 20 or 30 or 40 or 50

X d = (X-A)
10 10 – 20 = -10
20 20 – 20 = 0
30 30 – 20 = 10
40 40 – 20 = 20
50 50 – 20 = 30
∑d = 50
50
= 20 +
5
= 30

“A” can be any assumed no. it is not necessary to take central value as it has no effect on answer.

Discrete Series
Direct Method
∑ 𝑓𝑥
𝑋̅ = ∑ 𝑓

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 X f fx
2 4 8
4 4 16
5 4 20
9 4 36
10 4 40
∑f = 20 ∑fx =120
120
𝑋̅ =
20
𝑋̅ = 6

Short- cut Method

Formula;

∑𝑓𝑑
𝑋̅ = 𝐴 +
∑𝑓

n and f both are same

Assumed no. = 4

X f d = (X – A) Fd

2 3 -2 -6
4 4 0 0
6 2 2 4
8 1 6 6
12 6 8 48
∑f =16 ∑fd = 52
∑ 𝑓𝑑
𝑋̅ = 𝐴 +
∑𝑓
52
= 4 +16

= 4 + 3.25

= 7.25

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Continuous Series
Direct Method
∑ 𝑓𝑚
𝑋̅ = ∑ 𝑓

m = mid value
𝑙1+ 𝑙2
= 2

𝑙1 → lower limit

𝑙2 →Higher limit

Class Interval F m Fm
0 – 10 3 5 15
10 – 20 5 15 75
20 – 30 4 25 100
30 – 40 2 35 70
50 – 60 6 45 270
∑ 𝑓 =20 ∑ 𝑓𝑚 =530

∑ 𝑓𝑚
𝑋̅ = ∑ 𝑓

530
= 20

= 26.5

Short- cut Method

∑ 𝑓𝑑̅
𝑋̅ = 𝐴 + ∑𝑓

Here, d=m–A

As there is no X and m is mid point.

Class Interval F m D fd
0–2 3 1 1–7=6 -18
2–4 5 3 3 – 7 =-4 -20
4–6 2 5 5 – 7 = -2 -4
6–8 6 7 7–7=0 0
8 – 10 4 9 9–7=2 8
∑ 𝑓 =20 ∑𝑓𝑑̅ = -34

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 ∑ 𝑓𝑑̅
𝑋̅ = 𝐴 + ∑𝑓

−34
= 7+ 20

= 7+(-1.7)

= 5.3

 Combined Mean
𝑛1 𝑚1 + 𝑛2 𝑚2
𝑋̅𝑐 =
𝑛1 + 𝑛2

For 3:-
𝑛1 𝑚1 + 𝑛2 𝑚2+ 𝑛3 𝑚3
𝑋̅𝑐 =
𝑛1 + 𝑛2 + 𝑛3

Mean marks of 20 boys are 50 while mean marks of 30 girls are 60. Find combined mean.

Given data:-

No. of boys= 𝑛1 = 20

No. of girls= 𝑛2 = 30

𝑛1 𝑚1 = 20 ∗ 50 = 1000

𝑛2 𝑚2 = 30 ∗ 60 = 1800

By putting values in above formula:-

1000+1800
𝑋̅𝑐 = 20+30

= 56

 Weighted Arithmetic Mean

Multipliers or set of numbers which express more or less adequately the relative importance of
various observations in set of data.

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 X w
Food 290 7.5
Rent 54 2.0
Clothing 98 1.5
Fuel 75 1.0
Other items 75 0.5
∑ 𝑤 12.5

𝑥1 𝑤1 + 𝑥2 𝑤2 + 𝑥3 𝑤3 + 𝑥4 𝑤4 + 𝑥5 𝑤5
𝑥̅ 𝑤 =
𝑤1 + 𝑤2 + 𝑤3 + 𝑤4 + 𝑤5
(290)(7.5)+(54)(2)+(98)(1.5)+(75)(1)+(75)(0.5)
=
7.5+2+1.5+1+0.5

2542.5
=
12.5

=203.4

Properties of Arithmetic Mean

The arithmetic mean has following four properties:-

 For a set of data, the sum of the deviations of the observations 𝑥𝑖 ′ 𝑠 from their mean, 𝑥̅ ,
taken with their proper signs is equal to Zero.
The sum of the derivations= ∑𝑖(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥) ̅̅̅ (𝑖 = 1,2 … . . 𝑛)

= ∑ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑛𝑥̅ (𝑥̅ is constant)

=∑ 𝑥𝑖 − ∑ 𝑥𝑖 = 0 (𝑥̅ = ∑ 𝑥⁄𝑛)

 The sum of squared deviations of the 𝑥𝑖 ’s from the mean, 𝑥̅ , is minimum. In other words,
∑( 𝑥𝑖− 𝑥̅ )2 ≤ ∑( 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑎)2 , where 𝑎 is an arbitrary value other than the mean.

Now ∑ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2 = ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ + 𝑥̅ − 𝑎)2

= ∑ [(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2 + 2(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )(𝑥̅ − 𝑎) + (𝑥̅ − 𝑎)2 ]
= ∑ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2 + 2(𝑥̅ − 𝑎) ∑ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ ) + 𝑛(𝑥̅ − 𝑎)2
= ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2 + 𝑛(𝑥̅ − 𝑎)2 [(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ ) = 0]
2 2 2
It is obvious that ∑( 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑎) > ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ ) by 𝑛 (𝑥̅ − 𝑎) . The equality sign holds only
when 𝑥̅ = 𝑎.
Hence ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥̅ )2 is always less than ∑(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑎)2 if 𝑎 ≠ 𝑥̅ .

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 This property is usually called the mineral property of the mean.
If 𝑘 subgroups of data consisting of 𝑛1 , 𝑛2 , 𝑛3 … … 𝑛𝑘 , (∑ 𝑛𝑖 = 𝑛) observations have
respective means 𝑥̅1 , 𝑥̅2,. … , 𝑥̅𝑘 , then 𝑥̅ , the mean for all the data is given by

𝑛1 𝑥1 + 𝑛2 𝑥2 +. . … + 𝑛𝑘 𝑥𝑘
𝑥̅ =
𝑛1 + 𝑛2 + ⋯ 𝑛𝑘
∑ 𝑛𝑖 𝑥𝑖
=
𝑛
(𝑖 = 1,2,3 … 𝑘)
i.e. a weighted mean of all the subgroup means.
 If 𝑦𝑖 = 𝑎𝑥𝑖 + 𝑏 (𝑖 = 1,2, … , 𝑛), where 𝑎 & 𝑏 are any two numbers and 𝑎 ≠ 0, then 𝑦̅ =
𝑎𝑥̅ + 𝑏.
Now summing over all the values of i, we obtain
∑ 𝑦𝑖 = 𝑎 ∑ 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑛𝑏
Dividing both sides by n, we get
𝑦̅ = 𝑎 𝑥̅ + 𝑏
As the equation y = ax + b represents a linear transformation from x to y, this property is
usually called the invariance of the mean under a linear transformation & it provides the
basis for so-called coding which refers to the operation of subtracting (or adding) a
constant from each observation and then dividing (or multiplying) by another constant for
computational convenience.

Merits of Arithmetic Mean

 It is simple to understand & easy top calculate.

 It is affected by the value of every item in the series.
 It is rigidly defined.
 It is capable of further algebraic treatment.
 It is calculated value & not based on the position in the series.

Demerits of Arithmetic Mean

 It is affected by extreme limits i.e., very small & very large items.
 It can hardly be located by inspection.
 In some cases arithmetic mean does not represent the actual item.
For example, average patients admitted in a hospital is 10.7 per day.
 Arithmetic mean is not suitable in extremely asymmetrical distributions.

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