TOPIC TWO: MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

1.1 Objectives
By the end of the topic, the learner should be able to:
i) Define measure of central tendency and state the objectives of averaging
ii) Calculate and interpret various measures of central tendency – arithmetic mean,
median, mode, geometric mean, harmonic mean.

1.2 Introduction
Even after the data have been classified and tabulated one often finds too much details
for many uses that may be made of the information available. We, therefore, frequently
need further analysis of the tabulated data. One of the powerful tools of analysis is to
calculate a single average value that represents the entire mass of data. An “average” is a
single value which is considered as the most representative or typical value for a given
set of data. Such a value is neither the smallest nor the largest value, but is a number
whose value is somewhere in the middle of the group. For this reason an average is
frequently referred to as a measure of central tendency or central value
Definition: a measure of central tendency refers to measurement of values around
which data is scattered.

1.3 Objectives of Averaging

There are two main objectives of study of averages:
i) To get one single value that describes the characteristics of the entire data.
 Measures of central value, by condensing the mass of data in one single value,
enables us to get an idea of the entire data.
ii) To facilitate comparison.
 Measures of central value, by reducing the mass of data in one single value,
enables comparisons to be made. Comparison can be made either at a point of
time or over a period of time.

1.4 Characteristics of a Good Average

Since an average is a single value representing a group of values, it is desirable that
such a value satisfies the following properties:
i) It should be easy to understand.
 Since statistical methods are designed to simplify complexity, it is desirable that
an average be such that it can be readily understood, its use is bound to be very
limited.
ii) It should be simple to compute.
 It should be simple to compute so that it can be used widely; however, it should
not be sought at the expense of other advantages.
iii) It should be based on all observations.

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  The average should depend upon each and every observation so that if any of
the observation is dropped average itself is altered.
iv) It should be rigidly defined.
 An average should be properly defined so that it has one and only one
interpretation.
v) It should be capable of further algebraic or statistical treatment /or analysis.
 We should prefer to have an average that could be used for further statistical
computations.
vi) It should have sampling stability.
 We should prefer to get a value which has what statisticians call “sampling
stability” (should be least affected by the fluctuations of sampling.
vii) It should not be affected by the presence of extreme values.
 Although each and every observation should influence the value of the average
of the average, none of the observation should influence it unduly.
In this course we will look at the following important measures of central tendency
which are generally used in various fields eg business, education, etc:
(1) Arithmetic mean, (2) Median, (3) Mode, (4) Geometric
mean, and (5) Harmonic mean.

1.5 Arithmetic Mean

The most popular and widely used measure for representing the entire data by one
value is what most laymen call an “average” and what statisticians call the arithmetic
mean. Its value is obtained by adding together all the observations and by dividing this
total by the number of observations.

a) Calculation of arithmetic mean of ungrouped data using direct method :

Suppose we have 𝑛obervations; 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , … , 𝑥𝑛

Σ = sigma is the notation for sum,
Thus, 𝑛𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 =𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥3+ … + 𝑥𝑛 is the sum of all observations.
The arithmetic mean is denoted by 𝑥.
𝑥 of ungrouped data is given by;
𝑛
𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥3 + ⋯ + 𝑥𝑛 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖
𝑥= =
n 𝑛

b) Calculation of arithmetic mean of grouped data using direct method:

If the 𝑥𝑖 ’s occur with frequencies 𝑓1 , 𝑓2 , 𝑓3 … , 𝑓𝑛 respectively i.e.

𝑥1 → 𝑓1 , 𝑥2 → 𝑓2 , ..., 𝑥𝑛 → 𝑓𝑛
Then the arithmetic mean is given by;

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 𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 𝑥𝑖
𝑥=
𝛴𝑓𝑖
𝑛
Where 𝛴𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 is the total number of observations.
c) Properties ofArithmetic Mean

i) Sum of deviations from mean is zero.

Proof
Consider n observations, 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 … , 𝑥𝑛 with mean 𝑥
Let the deviations of the mean from each observation be;
𝑥1 - 𝑥=𝑑1 , 𝑥2 - 𝑥 =𝑑2 , 𝑥3 - 𝑥=𝑑3 , … , 𝑥𝑛 - 𝑥=𝑑𝑛
Then sum of the deviations is 𝑑1 + 𝑑2 + ⋯ + 𝑑𝑛 = 𝑖=1 𝑑𝑖 = 𝑛𝑖=1(𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥 )
𝑛

= 𝑛𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑛𝑖=1 𝑥
𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑥 𝑖 𝑛
But by definition 𝑥 = ⟹ 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 = n𝑥
𝑛
Thus 𝑛𝑖=1 𝑑𝑖 = n𝑥 − n𝑥 = 0 ∆
Exercise - If the 𝑥𝑖 ’s occur with frequencies 𝑓1 , 𝑓2 , 𝑓3 … , 𝑓𝑛 respectively, show that the sum of the
deviations from the arithmetic mean is zero.

ii) Data Coding

 Change of origin - For a given set of data 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 … , 𝑥𝑛 with mean 𝑥, if a constant
value 𝑎 is added or subtracted from each value in the set, the mean of the new data
set is 𝑥 ± 𝑎
 Change of scale - For a given set of data 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 … , 𝑥𝑛 with mean 𝑥, if a constant
value 𝑎 is is multiplied by or divide with each value in the set, the mean of the new
data set is 𝑥𝑎 or 𝑥 𝑎 .
Illustration - Change of origin
Adding a constant ;𝑥1 + 𝑎, 𝑥2 + 𝑎, …, 𝑥𝑛 + 𝑎
𝛴(𝑥 1 +𝑎) 𝑥𝑖 𝑎 𝑥𝑖
Thus 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = = + = 𝑥 + 𝑎where 𝑥 = and 𝑎=𝑎
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛

Subtracting a constant 𝑑𝑖 =𝑥𝑖 − 𝑎

𝛴(𝑥 1 −𝑎) 𝑥𝑖 𝑎
Thus 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = = − = 𝑥−𝑎
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛

Therefore if𝑎 is an assumed mean and 𝑑𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑎 (deviations from 𝑥𝑖 )

⟹ 𝑥𝑖 =𝑑𝑖 + 𝑎, and 𝑥 = 𝑛𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
𝑖=1 (𝑑 𝑖 +𝑎) 𝑑𝑖 𝑖=1 𝑎 𝑖=1 𝑑 𝑖
Then𝑥 = = 𝑖=𝑛
+ = +𝑎
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛 𝑛

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And for grouped data:
𝑓𝑖 𝑥𝑖 𝑓 𝑖 (𝑑 𝑖 +𝑎) 𝑓𝑖 𝑑𝑖 + 𝑓𝑖 𝑎 𝑓𝑖 𝑑𝑖
𝑥= and hence = = +𝑎
𝑓𝑖 𝑓𝑖 𝑓𝑖 𝑓𝑖

Thereforeto calculate arithmetic mean using assumed mean method we have:

𝛴𝑑𝑖
𝑥=𝑎+ , (ungrouped data)
𝑛
𝛴𝑓𝑖 𝑑𝑖
𝑥=𝑎+ , (grouped data)
𝛴𝑓𝑖

Illustration – change of scale

Assuming that all classes have similar class 𝑐, then each deviation𝑑𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑎 can be
𝑑𝑖
divided by 𝑐 to get a value 𝑢𝑖 𝑢𝑖 = where 𝑢𝑖 is positive, negative or zero such that
𝑐
𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑓𝑢 𝑖
𝑑𝑖 = 𝑐𝑢𝑖 . Then 𝑥 = 𝑎 + 𝑐
𝑓𝑖
Proof
If 𝑐 is the size of each class then 𝑥2 = 𝑥1 + 𝑐, 𝑥3 = 𝑥1 + 2𝑐 𝑥4 = 𝑥1 + 3𝑐 …….𝑥𝑞 =
𝑥1 + 𝑞 − 1 𝑐 …….𝑥𝑝 = 𝑥1 + 𝑝 − 1 𝑐………….
This shows that the difference between any two consecutive values is a multiple of c
𝑥𝑝 − 𝑥𝑞 = 𝑥1 + 𝑝 − 1 𝑐 − 𝑥1 − 𝑞 − 1 𝑐
𝑞 is a multiple of 𝑐 hence deviations can be written as 𝑑𝑖 = 𝑐𝑢𝑖
𝛴𝑑 𝑖 𝑐𝑢 𝑖 𝑢𝑖
And therefore𝑥 = 𝑎 + =𝑎+ =𝑎+𝑐
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
To calculated the arithmetic mean using coding method we use;
𝑢𝑖
𝑥 =𝑎+𝑐 , ungrouped data
𝑛
𝑓𝑖 𝑢𝑖
𝑥 =𝑎+𝑐 , grouped data
𝑓𝑖
𝑑𝑖
𝑤ℎ𝑢𝑖 = 𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑑𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑎
𝑐
Example 2.1
The winning scores in a certain golf tournament in the years from 2000 to 2009 were as
follows:
284, 280, 277, 282, 279, 285, 281, 283, 278, 277
Find the arithmetic mean of these scores.
Solution
a) Using direct method
𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑥 𝑖
By definition 𝑥 = 𝑛
284+280+ 277+ 282+ 279+ 285+ 281+ 283+ 278+ 277 2806
Thus 𝑥 = = = 280.6
10 10

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 b) Using assumed mean method (change of origin).
Rather than directly adding these values, we first subtract 𝑎 = 280 from
each one to obtain the new values 𝑑𝑖 = 𝑥𝑖 − 280:
𝑑𝑖 : 4, 0, −3, 2, −1, 5, 1, 3, −2, −3 and 𝛴𝑑𝑖 = 6
𝛴𝑑 𝑖 6
By definition 𝑥 = 𝑎 + = 280 + 10 = 280.6
𝑛
c) Using coding method (change of scale).
𝑢𝑖
By definition 𝑥 = 𝑎 + 𝑐 𝑛
This is ungrouped data and therefore we choose an appropriate value of 𝑐 either the
g.c.d of the 𝑑𝑖 ′𝑠 or any other value (use a factor that will not result in recurring
decimals.
𝑑𝑖
Let 𝑐 = 5, then 𝑢𝑖 = results in 0.8, 0, −0.6, 0.4, −0.2,1, 0.2, 0.6, −0.4, −0.6
5
𝑢𝑖 1.2
Hence 𝑥 = 𝑎 + 𝑐 = 280 + 5 × 10 = 280.6
𝑛
Example 2.2
Thefollowing is a frequency table giving the ages of members of a cultural club for
young adults.
Age 15 16 17 18 18 20
Frequency 2 5 11 9 14 13
Find the arithmetic mean of the ages of the 54 members of the symphony.
Solution
This data is ungrouped but has been placed in a simple frequency distribution table
indicating the age and the corresponding number of students. Hence
𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 15 × 2 + 16 × 5 + 17 × 11 + 18 × 9 + 19 × 14 + 20 × 13
𝑥= = = 18.24
𝑛 54
𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑓 𝑖 𝑥 𝑖
This is equivalent to writing the formula as𝑥 = 𝑛 𝑓
𝑖=1 𝑖
Example 2.3
Calculate the arithmetic mean of the following data using the three methods
Solution:
Use𝑎 = 75, 𝑐 = 5
Class 𝑓 𝑥 𝑓𝑥 𝑑 𝑓𝑑 𝑑 𝑓𝑢
𝑢𝑖 =
=𝑥−𝑎 𝑐
53-57 2 55 110 -20 -40 -4 -8
58-62 12 60 720 -15 -180 -3 -36
53-67 12 65 780 -10 -120 -2 -24
68-67 25 70 1750 -5 -75 -1 -25
73-77 27 75 675 0 0 0 0
78-82 10 80 800 5 50 1 10
83-87 9 85 765 10 90 2 18

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 88-92 3 90 270 15 45 3 9
𝛴𝑓 = Σ𝑓𝑥 =7 𝛴𝑓𝑑 = Σ𝑓𝑢 =-
100 220 -280 56
𝑓𝑖 𝑥𝑖 7220
 𝑥= = = 72.2
𝛴𝑓 𝑖 100
𝑓𝑑 −280
 𝑥=𝑎+ = 75 + =75 −2.8=72.2
𝑓 100
𝑓𝑢 56
 𝑥 =𝑎+𝑐 =75 + 5 − 100 =75 −2.8=72.2
𝑓

iii) Correcting Incorrect values

It sometimes happens that due to an oversight or mistake in copying certain wrong

values are taken while calculating the mean. The problem is how to find out the correct
mean. The process is very simple. From 𝑥deduct wrong observations and add correct
observations and then divide the correct 𝑥by the number of observations and the
result so obtained will give the value of the correct mean.
Example 2.4
a) The average weekly wage for a group of 25 persons working in a factory was
calculated to be $ 378.40. It was later discovered that one figure was misread as 160
instead of the correct value $200. Calculate the correct average wage.
Solution
 X  NX  25  378.4  9460
Correct  X  9460  160  200  9500
9500
Hence Correct mean =  380
25
b) The mean of 200 observations was 50. Later on, it was discovered that two
observations were wrongly read as 92 and 8 instead of 192 and 88. Find out the
correct mean.
Solution
 X  NX  200  50  10,000
Correct  X  10,000  (92  8)  (192  88)  10,000  100  280  10,180
10,180
Hence Correct mean =  50.9
200

Exercise
1. The mean of seven numbers is seven. One number is removed and the mean
increases to 10. Find the number which was removed.

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2. The average weight of a group of 30 friends increases by 1 kg when the weight of
their football coach was added. If average weight of the group after including the
weight of the football coach is 31 kg, what is the weight of their football coach?

3. The average wages of a worker during a fortnight comprising 15 consecutive

working days was $90 per day. During the first 7 days, his average wages was $87
per day and the average wages during the last 7 days was $92 per day. What was his
wage on the 8th day?

4. The average age of a group of 10 students was 20. The average age increased by 2
years when two new students joined the group. What is the average age of the two
new students who joined the group?

iv) Combined Mean

If we have the arithmetic mean and number of observations of two or more than two
related groups, we can compute combined average of these groups by applying the
following formula:
N1 X 1  N 2 X 2
X 12  where
N1  N 2
X 12  Combined mean of the two groups
X 1  Arithmetic mean of the first group
X 2  Arithmetic mean of the second group
N1  Number of observations in the first group
N 2  Number of observations in the second group
Example 2.5
a) There are two branches of a company employing 100 and 80 employees respectively.
If the arithmetic means of the monthly salaries paid by two branches are $4570 and
$6750 respectively, find the arithmetic mean of the salaries of the employees of the
company as a whole.
Solution
Combined mean of the income =
N X  N 2 X 2 100 4570   80 6750  997,000
X 12  1 1    5538 .89
N1  N 2 100  80 180
If we have to find out the combined mean of three related groups, the above formula
can be extended as follows:

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 N1 X 1  N 2 X 2  N 3 X 3
X 123 
N1  N 2  N 3
b) The mean of marks in Statistics of 100 students of a class was 72. The mean of marks
of boys was 75, while their number was 70. Find out the mean marks of girls in the
class.
Solution
We are given N  100 , X 12  72 , mean of boys, X 1  75 , Number of boys, N1  70 . We
have to find out the mean marks of girls, i.e., X 2 .
N1 X 1  N 2 X 2
X 12  
N1  N 2

72 
7075  30 X 2
70  30
 7200  5250  30 X 2  X 2 
1950
 65
30
Hence the mean marks of girls in the class = 65.
c) The mean age of a combined group of men and women is 30 years. If the mean age
of the group of men is 32 and that of the group of women is 25, find out the
percentage of men and women in the group.
Solution
Let N 1 represent the percentage of men and N 2 represent the percentage of women so
that N1  N 2  100 . We are given X 12  30, X 1  32, X 2  25
N1 X 1  N 2 X 2
X 12  
N1  N 2
N1 32   N 2 25
30 
100
 3000  32 N1  100  N1 25  32 N1  25 N1  3000  2500  500
 N1  71.43 and N 2  100  71.43  28.57

Example 8: A shopkeeper has 50 cold drink bottles. Some of the bottles are 1-liter and
some are 2-liter bottles. The average cold drink of the bottles is 1200 ml. Find the
number of 2-liter bottles. (1 liter = 1000 ml)

Solution: We have two groups, one of 1-lit bottles and other one of 2-lit bottles. Let us
say number of 2-lit bottles is N1 and number of 2-lit bottles is N2. We know that N1 +
N2 = 50 as given the in question. The average of group 1 (W1) is 1000 ml as all the
bottles are of equal quantity, i.e. 1000 ml. Similarly, the average of group 2 (W2) is 2000

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ml. With the help of weighted average formula we can calculate N1 and N2. The
weighted average here is 1200 ml. Let us put the values in the equation.

As N1 + N2 = 50, Replacing and solving for N1 we get, N1 = 40 and N2 = 10. Thus, the
shopkeeper has 10 bottles of 2-lit.

v) Weighted Arithmetic Mean

The arithmetic mean discussed above gives equal importance to all observations. But
there are cases where the relative importance of the different observations is not the
same. When this is so, we compute weighted arithmetic mean. The term “weight”
stands for the relative importance of the different observations. The formula for
computing weighted arithmetic mean is:

Xw 
WX where X represents the weighted arithmetic mean, X = The variable, and
W
w

W = weights attached to the variable X.

Example 2.6
A student final marks in Mathematics, Physics, English and Accounting are respectively
82, 86, 90, and 70. If the respective credits received for these courses are 3, 5, 3, and 1;
determine the approximate average mark.
Solution

Xw 
WX 
82(3)  86(5)  90(3)  70(1) 246  430  270  70 1016
   84.67  85
W 3 5  31 12 12

vi) Merits and Demerits of the arithmetic mean as an average

Merits: satisfy (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), and (vi)
Demerits: Does not satisfy (vii), i.e., it is affected by extreme observations.

1.6 Median
 Ungrouped data

Order the values of a data set of size n from smallest to largest (in order of magnitude).
If n is odd, the median is the value in position (𝑛 + 1) 2; if n is even, the median is the
average of the values in positions n/2 and n/2 + 1 i.e. it’s the middle value / arithmetic
mean of two middle values

Example 2.7

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a) Find the median of: 1, 10,7, 20, 5
Solution
Put the data in an array and arrangein ascending or descending order: 1,5,7,10,20
5+7
=6
2
b) Find the median of the set of numbers: 21, 3, 7, 17, 19, 31, 46, 20 and 43.
 Grouped data
The following formula is used
𝑁
( −𝑐 𝑓 )
Median= 𝑙𝑚 + 2
× 𝑐 𝑜𝑟 𝑖
𝑓𝑚
𝑙𝑚 − Lower limit of median class
N- 𝑓- total number of units
C- Size of median class
𝑓𝑚 -Frequency of median class
𝑐𝑓 - Cumulative frequency of class
Example 2.9
Class 𝑓 𝑐𝑓
53-57 2 2
58-62 12 14
63-67 12 26
68-72 25 51
73-77 27 78
78-82 10 88
83-87 9 97
88-92 3 100
𝑁 100
Median class = = = 50
2 2
𝑁
( −𝑐 𝑓 )
Median= 𝑙𝑚 + 2
×𝑐
𝑓𝑚
50 − 26 5
= 67.5 +
25
= 67.5 + 14.8
= 72.3
Lower Quartile (Q1)
Divides the distribution into four.
Calculation of Lower Quartile – Grouped data
N
Determine the particular class in which the value of the lower quartile lies. Use   to
4
N
locate the lower quartile class because in the use of grouped data it is   which
4

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divides the area of the curve into four equal parts. Apply the following formula for
determining the exact value of the lower quartile:

Lower Quartile (Q1 )  L 

N / 4  pcf   i
where
f
L = Lower limit of the lower quartile class.
p.c.f. = Preceding cumulative frequency to the lower quartile class.
f = Frequency of the lower quartile class
i = The class-interval of the lower quartile class.

Upper Quartile (Q3)

Divides the distribution into three out of four parts.

Calculation of Upper Quartile – Grouped data

 3N 
Determine the particular class in which the value of the upper quartile lies. Use   to
 4 
 3N 
locate the upper quartile class because in the use of grouped data it is   which
 4 
divides the area of the curve into three out of four equal parts. Apply the following
formula for determining the exact value of the upper quartile:

Upper Quartile (Q3 )  L 

3N / 4  pcf   i
where
f
L = Lower limit of the upper quartile class.
p.c.f. = Preceding cumulative frequency to the upper quartile class.
f = Frequency of the upper quartile class
i = The class-interval of the upper quartile class.

Example 2.8
The profits earned by 100 companies during 2010 – 2011 periods are given below:
Profits ($) No. of companies Profits ($) No. of companies
20 – 30 4 60 – 70 15
30 – 40 8 70 – 80 10
40 – 50 18 80 – 90 8
50 – 60 30 90 – 100 7
Calculate Q1 and Q3.
Solution
Profits ($) No. of companies (f) Cumulative frequency
20 – 30 4 4

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30 – 40 8 12
40 – 50 18 30
50 – 60 30 60
60 – 70 15 75
70 – 80 10 85
80 – 90 8 93
90 – 100 7 100
th
N 100
Lower Quartile, Q1 = size of   observation =  25th observation.
 
4 4
Hence Q1 lies in the class 40 – 50.
L = 40, p.c.f. = 12, f = 18, i = 10.

Q1  L 
N / 4  pcf   i  40   25  12   10  40  7.22  47.22
 
f  18 
Hence 25% of the companies earn an annual profit of $47.22 or less.
th
 3N  3  100
Upper Quartile, Q3 = size of   observation =  75th observation.
 4  4
Hence Q3 lies in the class 60 – 70.
L = 60, p.c.f. = 60, f = 15, i = 10.

Q3  L 
3N / 4  pcf   i  60   75  60   10  60  10  70
 
f  15 
Hence 75% of the companies earn an annual profit of $70 or less.
These values, i.e., Q1 , median and Q3 can also be obtained from the Ogive curve.
In general; the pth percentile, Xp is the value of x in the ogive corresponding to
p
y N
100
Note:
The median is the 50th percentile value.
The lower quartile is the 25th percentile value.
The upper quartile is the 25th percentile value.
The formula for evaluating Xp is given by:

Pth percentile, X p  LX p 
 pN / 100  pcf   i
fX p

1.7 Mode
It’s the value with the highest frequency.
For ungrouped data e.g. 1,2,3,4,5,5,5 the mode is 5

Page 12 of 17
Example 2.9
Find the mean, median, mode, and range for the following list of values: 13, 18, 13, 14,
13, 16, 14, 21, 13
Solution
Note that the mean, in this case, isn’t a value from the original list. This is a common
result. You should not assume that your mean will be one of your original numbers.
The median is the middle value, so first we’ll have to rewrite the list in numerical order:
13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21
There are nine numbers in the list, so the middle one will be the (9 + 1) ÷ 2 = 10 ÷ 2 = 5th
number:
13, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 21
So the median is 14.
The mode is the number that is repeated more often than any other, so 13 is the mode,
since 13 is being repeated 4 times.
The largest value in the list is 21, and the smallest is 13, so the range is 21 – 13 = 8.
Mean: 15 |median: 14 |mode: 3 |range: 8

Grouped data
𝜕 1`
Mode= 𝑙𝑚 + (𝜕 )𝑐
1 +𝜕 2

𝑙𝑚 - Lower class boundary of model class

𝜕1 - Excess of model frequency minus the next lower class.
𝜕2 -Excess of the model frequency minus the next higher class.
𝑐- Class size
Proof
Assumptions classes have equal sizes.
Assumptions classes have equal sizes i.e. change in PQR and change in PST are similar
𝐸𝑃 𝑃𝐹
=
𝑅𝑄 𝑆𝑇
𝑚 −𝑙 𝑚 𝑢 −𝑚
= 𝑚𝜕
𝜕1 2
𝑚 − 𝑙𝑚 𝜕2 = (𝑢𝑚 − 𝑚)𝜕1
𝑚𝜕2 − 𝑙𝑚 𝜕2 = 𝜕1 𝑢𝑚 − 𝑚𝜕1
𝑚𝜕2 + 𝑚𝜕1 = 𝜕1 𝑢𝑚 + 𝑙𝑚 𝜕2
𝑚 𝜕2 + 𝜕1 = 𝜕1 𝑢𝑚 + 𝑙𝑚 𝜕2
𝜕 1 𝑢 𝑚 +𝑙 𝑚 𝜕 2
𝑚= 𝜕 2 +𝜕 1
𝑢𝑚 = 𝑙𝑚 + 𝑐
𝜕 1 (𝑙 𝑚 +𝑐)+𝑙 𝑚 𝜕 2
𝑚= 𝜕 2 +𝜕 1

Page 13 of 17
 𝑙 𝑚 𝜕 1 +𝜕 2 +𝜕 1 𝑐
= 𝜕 1 +𝜕 2
𝑙 𝑚 𝜕 1 +𝜕 2 𝜕1 𝑐
= +𝜕
𝜕 1 +𝜕 2 1 +𝜕 2
𝜕1 𝑐
Mode= 𝑙𝑚 + 𝜕
1 +𝜕 2
c)
Class Frequencies
58-62 12
63-67 12
68-72 25
73-77 27
78-82 10
83-87 9
83-87 9
88-92 3

𝑙𝑚 =72.5 𝑐=5 𝜕1 =2 𝜕2 =17

𝜕 1`
Mode=𝑙𝑚 + (𝜕 )𝑐
1 +𝜕 2
2×5
= 72.5 +
2 + 17
= 72.5 + 0.5263
= 73.0263 Units

1.8 Geometric Mean (G)

In business and economic problems, very often we are faced with questions pertaining
to percentage rates of change over time. Neither the mean, the median nor mode is
appropriate average to use in these instances. The correct average is obtained through
the use of the geometric mean or, what amounts to the same thing, through the use of
the familiar compound interest formula.
Geometric mean is defined as the Nth root of the product of N observations of a given
data. Symbolically;
 Geometric Mean (G.M .)  N X1  X 2   X N
where X 1 , X 2 , , X N refer to the various observations of the data.
When the number of observations is three or more the task of multiplying the number
and of extracting the root becomes quite tedious. To simplify calculations logarithms
are used. Geometric mean is the calculated as follows:

Page 14 of 17
Log (G.M .) 
log X 1  log X 2    log X N

 log X
N N
  log X 
 G.M .  anti log 

 N 

Calculation of Geometric Mean – Ungrouped Data

In ungrouped data, geometric mean is calculated with the help of the following formula
  log X 
G.M .  anti log 

 N 
In grouped data, for calculating geometric mean first we will find the midpoints and the
apply the following formula
  f  log X 
G.M .  anti log  where X is the midpoint.

 N 

Applications of Geometric mean

Used to find the average per cent increase in sales, production, population, e.t.c.
It is considered to be the best average in construction of index numbers.

Example 2.10
Compared to the previous year the overhead expenses went up by 32% in 2006; they
increased by 40% in the next year and by 50% in the following year. Calculate the
average rate of increase in the overhead expenses over the three years.
Solution
In average ratios and percentages, geometric mean is more appropriate. Applying
geometric mean here;
% Rise Expenses at the end of the year Log X
taking preceding year as 100 (X)
32 132 2.1206
40 140 2.1461
50 150 2.1761
 log X  6.4428
  log X 
  Anti log
6.4428 
G.M .  Anti log    Anti log6.4428   140.5
 N   3 
Average rate of increase in overhead expenses = 140.5 – 100 = 40.5%.

Page 15 of 17
Example 2.11
The annual rates of growth of output of a factory in 5 years are 5.0, 7.5, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0
respectively. What is the compound rate of growth of output per annum for the period?
Solution
In average ratios and percentages, geometric mean is more appropriate. Applying
geometric mean here;
Annual rate Output relatives at the Log X
of growth end of the year (X)
5.0 105 2.0212
7.5 107.5 2.0314
2.5 102.5 2.0107
5.0 105.0 2.0212
10.0 110.0 2.0414
 log X  10.1259
  log X 
  Anti log
10.1259 
G.M .  Anti log    Anti log2.0252   105 .9
 N   5 
The compound rate of growth of output per annum for the period = 105.9 – 100 = 5.9%.

1.9 Harmonic Mean (H)

Harmonic mean is based on the reciprocal of the numbers averaged. It is defined as the
reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of the reciprocal of the individual observation. Thus
by definition:
N N
Harmonic Mean  
 1 1  1
 
1
  
 X1 X 2 XN  X

where X 1 , X 2 , , X N refer to the various observations of the data.

N N
For grouped data; Harmonic Mean   where X is the
 f1 f   f 

f
 2    N    X 
 X1 X 2 XN 
midpoint of the various classes and f their corresponding frequencies.

Applications of Harmonic mean

Useful for computing the average rate of increase of profits or the average speed at
which a journey has been performed or the average price at which an article has been
sold.

Page 16 of 17
Example 2.12
(a) Calculate harmonic mean of numbers 10, 20, 25, 40, 50.
(b) Calculate harmonic mean from the following frequency distribution:
Marks 0 – 10 10 – 20 20 – 30 30 – 40 40 – 50
No. of students 8 15 20 4 3
Solution
(a)
X 1/X
10 0.100
20 0.050
25 0.040
40 0.025
50 0.02
1
 X  0.235

N 5
Harmonic Mean    21.28
1
X 0.235

(b)
Marks X F f 1 / X
0 – 10 5 8 1.600
10 – 20 15 15 1.000
20 – 30 25 20 0.800
30 – 40 35 4 0.114
40 – 50 45 3 0.067
f
 X  3.581
N 50
Harmonic Mean    13.96
 f  3.581
  X 

Page 17 of 17