ASSIGNMENT

Unit 1: Measures of central Tendency

Q1. What are the functions of an average? Discuss the relative merits and demerits of various
types of statistical averages.

Answer: Functions of an average

1. To present huge mass of data in a summarised form: It is very difficult for human mind to grasp
a large body of numerical figures. A measure of average is used to summarise such data into a
single figure which makes it easier to understand and remember.
2. To facilitate comparison: Different sets of data can be compared by comparing their averages.
For example, the level of wages of workers in two factories can be compared by mean (or
average) wages of workers in each of them.
3. To help in decision making: Most of the decisions to be taken in research, planning, etc., are
based on the average value of certain variables. For example, if the average monthly sales of a
company are falling, the sales manager may have to take certain decisions to improve it.

MERITS AND DEMERITS OF MEAN, MEDIAN AND MODE

MEAN
The arithmetic mean (or simply "mean") of a sample is the sum of the sampled values divided by the
number of items in the sample.

Merits of Arithemetic Mean

1) Arithemetic mean rigidly defined by algebric formula.

2) It is easy to calculate and simple to understand.

3) It based on all observations and it can be regarded as representative of the given data.

4) It is capable of being treated mathematically and hence it is widely used in statistical analysis.

5) Arithmetic mean can be computed even if the detailed distribution is not known but some of the
observation and number of the observation are known.

6) It is least affected by the fluctuation of sampling.

Demerits of Arithmetic Mean

1) It can neither be determined by inspection or by graphical location.

2) Arithmetic mean cannot be computed for qualitative data like data on intelligence honesty and
smoking habit etc.
3) It is too much affected by extreme observations and hence it is not adequately represent data
consisting of some extreme point.

4) Arithmetic mean cannot be computed when class intervals have open ends.

Median:
The median is that value of the series which divides the group into two equal parts, one part comprising
all values greater than the median value and the other part comprising all the values smaller than the
median value.

Merits of median
(1) Simplicity:- It is very simple measure of the central tendency of the series. I the case of simple
statistical series, just a glance at the data is enough to locate the median value.
(2) Free from the effect of extreme values: - Unlike arithmetic mean, median value is not destroyed by
the extreme values of the series.
(3) Certainty: - Certainty is another merits is the median. Median values are always a certain specific
value in the series.
(4) Real value: - Median value is real value and is a better representative value of the series compared
to arithmetic mean average, the value of which may not exist in the series at all.
(5) Graphic presentation: - Besides algebraic approach, the median value can be estimated also through
the graphic presentation of data.
(6) Possible even when data is incomplete: - Median can be estimated even in the case of certain
incomplete series. It is enough if one knows the number of items and the middle item of the series.

Demerits of median:
Following are the various demerits of median:

(1) Lack of representative character: - Median fails to be a representative measure in case of such series
the different values of which are wide apart from each other. Also, median is of limited representative
character as it is not based on all the items in the series.
(2) Unrealistic:- When the median is located somewhere between the two middle values, it remains only
an approximate measure, not a precise value.
(3) Lack of algebraic treatment: - Arithmetic mean is capable of further algebraic treatment, but median
is not. For example, multiplying the median with the number of items in the series will not give us the
sum total of the values of the series.

However, median is quite a simple method finding an average of a series. It is quite a commonly used
measure in the case of such series which are related to qualitative observation as and health of the
student.

Mode:
The value of the variable which occurs most frequently in a distribution is called the mode.

Merits of mode:
Following are the various merits of mode:
(1) Simple and popular: - Mode is very simple measure of central tendency. Sometimes, just at the
series is enough to locate the model value. Because of its simplicity, it s a very popular measure of the
central tendency.
(2) Less effect of marginal values: - Compared top mean, mode is less affected by marginal values in the
series. Mode is determined only by the value with highest frequencies.

(3) Graphic presentation:- Mode can be located graphically, with the help of histogram.
(4) Best representative: - Mode is that value which occurs most frequently in the series. Accordingly,
mode is the best representative value of the series.
(5) No need of knowing all the items or frequencies: - The calculation of mode does not require
knowledge of all the items and frequencies of a distribution. In simple series, it is enough if one knows
the items with highest frequencies in the distribution.

Demerits of mode:
Following are the various demerits of mode:

(1) Uncertain and vague: - Mode is an uncertain and vague measure of the central tendency.
(2) Not capable of algebraic treatment: - Unlike mean, mode is not capable of further algebraic
treatment.
(3) Difficult: - With frequencies of all items are identical, it is difficult to identify the modal value.
(4) Complex procedure of grouping:- Calculation of mode involves cumbersome procedure of grouping
the data. If the extent of grouping changes there will be a change in the model value.
(5) Ignores extreme marginal frequencies:- It ignores extreme marginal frequencies. To that extent
model value is not a representative value of all the items in a series. Besides, one can question the
representative character of the model value as its calculation does not involve all items of the series.
Q.2 Compute the mode for the following data

ANSWER:-
Q.3 The following incomplete table gives the number of students in different age groups of a
town. If the median of the distribution is 11 years, find out the missing frequencies.

Answer:-
Q.4 Determine the mode of the following distribution

ANSWER:-
Q.5 Describe the various measures of average?

Various Measure of An Average

Various measures of average can be classified into the following three categories:

1. Mathematical Averages

(a) Arithmetic Mean or Mean

(b) Geometric Mean

(c) Harmonic Mean

(d) Quadratic Mean

2. Positional Averages

(a) Median

(b) Mode

3. Commercial Average

(a) Moving Average

(b) Progressive Average

(c) Composite Average

Averages

In statistics, an average is defined as the number that measures the central tendency of a given set of
numbers. There are a number of different averages including but not limited to: mean, median, mode
and range.

Mean

Mean is what most people commonly refer to as an average. The mean refers to the number you obtain
when you sum up a given set of numbers and then divide this sum by the total number in the set. Mean
is also referred to more correctly as arithmetic
mean.
Given a set of n elements from a1 to an

The mean is found by adding up all the a‘s and then dividing by the total
number, n

This can be generalized by the formula below:

Mean Example Problems

Example 1

Find the mean of the set of numbers below

Solution

The first step is to count how many numbers there are in the set, which we shall
call n

The next step is to add up all the numbers in the set

The last step is to find the actual mean by dividing the sum by n
Mean can also be found for grouped data, but before we see an example on that, let us first define
frequency.

Frequency in statistics means the same as in everyday use of the word. The frequency an element in a
set refers to how many of that element there are in the set. The frequency can be from 0 to as many as
possible. If you’re told that the frequency an element a is 3, that means that there are 3 as in the set.

Example 2

Find the mean of the set of ages in the table below

Age (years) Frequency

10 0

11 8

12 3

13 2

14 7
Solution

The first step is to find the total number of ages, which we shall call n. Since it will be tedious to count all
the ages, we can find n by adding up the frequencies:

Next we need to find the sum of all the ages. We can do this in two ways: we can add up each individual
age, which will be a long and tedious process; or we can use the frequency to make things faster.

Since we know that the frequency represents how many of that particular age there are, we can just
multiply each age by its frequency, and then add up all these products.
The last step is to find the mean by dividing the sum by n

Population Mean vs Sample Mean

In the introduction to Statistics section, we defined a population and a sample whereby a sample is a
part of a population.

In statistics there are two kinds of means: population mean and sample mean. A population mean is the
true mean of the entire population of the data set while a sample mean is the mean of a small sample of
the population. These different means appear frequently in both statistics and probability and should
not be confused with each other.

Population mean is represented by the Greek letter μ (pronounced mu) while sample mean is
represented by x̄ (pronounced x bar). The total number of elements in a population is represented
by N while the number of elements in a sample is represented by n. This leads to an adjustment in the
formula we gave above for calculating the mean.

The sample mean is commonly used to estimate the population mean when the population mean is
unknown. This is because they have the same expected value.

Median

The median is defined as the number in the middle of a given set of numbers arranged in order of
increasing magnitude. When given a set of numbers, the median is the number positioned in the exact
middle of the list when you arrange the numbers from the lowest to the highest. The median is also a
measure of average. In higher level statistics, median is used as a measure of dispersion. The median is
important because it describes the behavior of the entire set of numbers.
Example 3

Find the median in the set of numbers given below

Solution

From the definition of median, we should be able to tell that the first step is to rearrange the given set
of numbers in order of increasing magnitude, i.e. from the lowest to the highest

Then we inspect the set to find that number which lies in the exact middle.

Lets try another example to emphasize something interesting that often occurs when solving for the
median.

Example 4

Find the median of the given data

Solution

As in the previous example, we start off by rearranging the data in order from the smallest to the largest.

Next we inspect the data to find the number that lies in the exact middle.

We can see from the above that we end up with two numbers (4 and 5) in the middle. We can solve for
the median by finding the mean of these two numbers as follows:
Mode

The mode is defined as the element that appears most frequently in a given set of elements. Using the
definition of frequency given above, mode can also be defined as the element with the largest frequency
in a given data set.

For a given data set, there can be more than one mode. As long as those elements
all have the same frequency and that frequency is the highest, they are all the
modal elements of the data set.

Example 5

Find the Mode of the following data set.

Solution

Mode = 3 and 15

Mode for Grouped Data

As we saw in the section on data, grouped data is divided into classes. We have defined mode as the
element which has the highest frequency in a given data set. In grouped data, we can find two kinds of
mode: the Modal Class, or class with the highest frequency and the mode itself, which we calculate from
the modal class using the formula below.

where

 L is the lower class limit of the modal class

 f1 is the frequency of the modal class
  f0 is the frequency of the class before the modal class in the
frequency table
 f2 is the frequency of the class after the modal class in the
frequency table
 h is the class interval of the modal class

Example 6

Find the modal class and the actual mode of the data set below

Number Frequency

1–3 7

4–6 6

7–9 4

10 – 12 2

13 – 15 2

16 – 18 8

19 – 21 1

22 – 24 2

25 – 27 3

28 – 30 2
Solution

Modal class = 10 – 12

where

 L = 10
 f1 = 9
 f0 = 4
  f2 = 2
 h=3
therefore,

Solving the above using the

order of operations:

Range

The range is defined as the difference between the highest and lowest number in
a given data set.

Example 7

Find the range of the data set below

Solution