Ch No.

3: Measure of Location
Measure of Location:
A single value, which will represent all the values of the distribution in some definite way, is
called the average. Since the averages tend to lie in the center of a distribution they are called measure
of central tendency/measure of location.
The most commonly used averages are
1. The Arithmetic Mean
2. The Geometric Mean
3. The Harmonic Mean
4. The Median
5. The Mode
Arithmetic Mean:
The Arithmetic mean or simply mean is defined as a value obtained by dividing the sum of all
the values by their number.
e.g. the man of all the values denoted by and defined as

= = = for ungroup data

= for group data

Weighted Arithmetic Mean:
When values are not of equal importance, we assign them a certain numerical values to express
their relative importance these numerical values are called weights. If have weights

, then weighted arithmetic mean or weighted mean is defined.

= =

Properties of Arithmetic Mean:

Some important properties of A.M are given below
1. The sum of deviations of values from their mean is zero i.e.
2. If values have mean , values have mean ,………., values have mean then mean
of all the values is
3. The sum of squares of the deviations of all the values from their mean is minimum i.e.
is minimum.
4. the arithmetic mean is affected by change of origin and scale i.e.
I. if y=a+x then y=a+x
II. if y=bx then y=bx
III. if y=a+bx then y=a+bx

AAMIR RAZA
LECTURER IN STATISTICS
GC MANDI BAHAUDDIN Page 1 of 4
 Ch No. 3: Measure of Location
Advantages of Arithmetic Mean:
1. The arithmetic mean is defined by a mathematical formula.
2. It is most widely used and most commonly understood of all the averages.
3. It is easy to calculate and.
4. It depends of all the values of the data.
5. In is capable of further manipulation.
6. It is relatively stable measure.
Disadvantages of Arithmetic Mean:
1. The mean is greatly affected by extreme values.
2. It is not an appropriate average for highly skewed distribution.
3. It cannot be accurately computed in case off an open ended frequency table.
4. It may locate the value at a point at which few or none of the actual observations lie.
The Geometric Mean:
The Geometric Mean is defined as the nth root of the product of n positive values. If we have n
positive values then the Geometric Mean is denoted by G.M and is defined as

G.M = G = =

The Harmonic Mean:

The harmonic mean of a set of n values is the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of
the reciprocal of the values. The harmonic mean is denoted by H.M and defined as

H.M = for ungroup data H.M= for group data

The Median:
It is a value which divides an arranged data in order of magnitude into two equal parts.
e.g Median is the middle value if number of values is odd.
Median is the mean of two middle values if number of values is even.
The Mode:
Mode is defined as the most frequent value in the data, it is denoted by

Quantiles:
Sometime our interest is to know the position of an observation to the other in a data set. The
measure used for this purpose is called quintiles, these are
i) Quartiles ii) Deciles iii) Percentiles
Quartiles:
Quartiles are the values in the order statistics that divide the data into four equal parts.
There are three quartiles first quartile , second quartile (Median) and third quartile . First
quartile is also called lower quartile and third quartile is also called upper quartile.
AAMIR RAZA
LECTURER IN STATISTICS
GC MANDI BAHAUDDIN Page 2 of 4
 Ch No. 3: Measure of Location
Deciles:
Deciles are the values in the order statistics that divide the data into ten equal parts
There are There are nine deciles denoted by , ……..,
Percentiles:
Percentiles are the values in the order statistics that divide the data into hundred equal parts.
There are ninety-nine percentiles denoted by , , ……..,
Qualities of a Good Average:
A good average possess the following properties
1. A good average should possess the following qualities.
2. It should be clearly defined
3. It should be simple to understand and easy to calculate
4. It should not be unduly affected by extremely large or extremely small value.
5. It should be capable of algebraic manipulation.
6. It should what is called sampling stability.

ARITHMATIC MEAN
Advantages Disadvantages
1. It is rigorously defined by a mathematically 1. It is greatly affected by extremely large
formula. values.
2. It is based on all the observations of data. 2. It gives sometimes misleading conclusion.
3. It is easy to calculate and understand. 3. In highly skewed distributions, mean is not
4. It is almost to calculate every type of data. suitable.
5. It is relatively stable statistic with 4. For open-end classes, it cannot be calculated
fluctuations of sampling. without assuming limit.
6. It is amendable to a mathematical treatment. 5. Not best average for rates of ratios.
7. Best average for less dispersion type of data. 6. Sometimes strange answer.
8. Used in advanced statistics. 7. It cannot be calculated graphically or if any
9. It can be calculated if any value is zero or value is missing.
negative in the data.
MEDIAN
Advantages Disadvantages
1. It is easily calculated and understood. 1. It is not rigorously defined.
2. It is not affected by extreme values. 2. To arrange the data is difficult.
3. In highly skewed distributions, median is an 3. It is not based on all data.
appropriate average. 4. Not best average for rates & ratios.
4. It can be calculated from an open-end table 5. Ignore large and small values.
or graphically. 6. Not true average.
5. It can be calculated every type of data.
6. It can be calculated if any value is zero,
negative or missing.

AAMIR RAZA
LECTURER IN STATISTICS
GC MANDI BAHAUDDIN Page 3 of 4
 Ch No. 3: Measure of Location
MODE
Advantages Disadvantages
1. It is simply to define and compute. 1. It is not rigorously defined.
2. It is not affected to extremely large or small 2. It is not based on all the data.
values. 3. It is sometimes impossible to locate mode.
3. It can be determined for both qualitative and 4. Not best average for rated and ratios.
quantitative data. 5. Sometimes it gives two or more answers.
4. Speedily calculated. 6. It ignores large or small values.
5. It can be calculated if any value is negative,
zero or missing.
6. It can be calculated graphically.
7. It is easy to calculate.
GEOMETRIC MEAN
Advantages Disadvantages
1. It is rigorously defined by a mathematically 1. It is not easy to calculate.
formula. 2. If any value is zero, negative or missing, it is
2. It is based on all the observations of data. impossible to calculate.
3. It gives equal weight to all values. 3. It cannot be calculated from open-end table
4. It is not affected by sampling variability. or graphically.
5. It is appropriate average for rates, ratios and 4. Not true average.
percentages. 5. Not best for skewed type data.
6. It has further use in advance statistics. 6. Much calculation required.
7. Not affected by extreme large values.
8. It is amenable to a mathematically treatment.
HARMONIC MEAN
Advantages Disadvantages
1. It is rigorously defined by a mathematically 1. It is not easy to calculate.
formula. 2. If any value is zero, negative or missing, it
2. It is based on all the observations of data. cannot be computed.
3. It is amenable to a mathematically treatment 3. It cannot be calculated from open-end table
4. It is not affected by sampling variability. or graphically.
5. It is appropriate average for rates, ratios and 4. Not true average.
speed. 5. Not best for skewed type data.
6. Much calculation required.

AAMIR RAZA
LECTURER IN STATISTICS
GC MANDI BAHAUDDIN Page 4 of 4