Measures of central

tendency
We are already acquainted with these measures. We normally study 3
measures of central tendency:

(a) Mean

(b) Median

(c) Mode

Mean:
As such finding mean is very simple

(a)

(b)

Note
For class wise data (i.e. continuous data), we take mid points of
classes as xi

(a) Mean of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 is

(b) Mean of is

(c) Mean of is

So, finding mean is never a challenge

 Now, let’s do some examples on mean

Question!

Q The mean of runs of Kedar Jadhav in 15 matches is 4. If

mean of his runs in first 3 matches is 7, then find mean of
his runs in remaining matches.

Solution :
 Question!

Q Mean of 9 observations is 100 and mean of 6 observations

is 80, then the mean of 15 observations is

A 92

B 29

C 1380

D 15

Question!

Q Mean of 9 observations is 100 and mean of 6 observations

is 80, then the mean of 15 observations is

A 92

B 29

C 1380

D 15

Solution :
 Question!

Q Mean of 100 items is 49. It was discovered that three items

which should have been 60, 70 and 80 were wrongly read
as 40, 20 and 50, respectively. The correct mean is

A 48

C 50

D 80

Question!

Q Mean of 100 items is 49. It was discovered that three items

which should have been 60, 70 and 80 were wrongly read
as 40, 20 and 50, respectively. The correct mean is

A 48

C 50

D 80

Solution :
Sum of 100 items = 49 × 100 = 4900
Sum of items added = 60 + 70 + 80 = 210
Sum of items replaced = 40 + 20 + 50 = 110
New sum = 4900 − 110 + 210 = 5000
 Question!

Q The mean of data set comprising of 16 observations is 16. If one

of the observation valued 16 is deleted and 3 observations 3, 4
& 5 are added then mean of resultant data is:

A JEE Main 2015

16.8

B 16.0

C 15.8

D 14

Question!

Q The mean of data set comprising of 16 observations is 16. If one

of the observation valued 16 is deleted and 3 observations 3, 4
& 5 are added then mean of resultant data is:

A JEE Main 2015

16.8

B 16.0

C 15.8

D 14

Solution :

Required mean
 Question!

Q The mean age of a combined group of men and women is 25

years. If the mean age of the group of men is 26 years and
that of the group of women is 21 years, then the percentage
of men and women in the group are respectively.

A 60, 40

B 80, 20

C 20, 80

D 40, 60

Question!

Q The mean age of a combined group of men and women is 25

years. If the mean age of the group of men is 26 years and
that of the group of women is 21 years, then the percentage
of men and women in the group are respectively.

A 60, 40

B 80, 20

C 20, 80

D 40, 60

Solution :
 Question!

Q The mean of n items is If the first term is increased by 1,

second by 2 and so on, then the new mean is

D None of these

Question!

Q The mean of n items is If the first term is increased by 1,

second by 2 and so on, then the new mean is

D None of these

Solution :
Now, we need to study dependence of on “change of origin & scale”

Consider a data x1, x2, …, xn with mean

(a) If then try to observe:

(so, mean changes with change of scale)

(b) If yi = xi − A then try to observe

 Question!

Q The means of a set of numbers is If each number is

divided by 3, then new mean is

Question!

Q The means of a set of numbers is If each number is

divided by 3, then new mean is

Solution :

Let set of numbers be x1, x2, x3, …, xn

Given,

Now, if each numbers is divided by 3 then new mean

Median:

Median:

(i) Median of an individual series:

Step 1: Arrange the data in ascending or descending order.

Step 2: (i) If n is odd, then

Median = value of the middle term

(ii) If n is even, then

Median = mean of the two middle terms

Question!

Q The median of distribution

83, 54, 78, 64, 90, 59, 67, 72, 70, 73 is

A 71

B 70

C 72

D None of these
 Question!

Q The median of distribution

83, 54, 78, 64, 90, 59, 67, 72, 70, 73 is

A 71

B 70

C 72

D None of these

Solution :

(ii) Median of a discrete series:

Step 1: Arrange the values of the variate in ascending or descending

order
Step 2: Prepare a cumulative frequency table
Step 3: Median is the observation whose cumulative frequency is equal
to or just greater than N/2, where N is sum of frequencies.
(iii) Median of a continuous series:

Step 1: Prepare the cumulative frequency table

Step 2: Find the median class, i.e. the class whose cumulative
frequency is equal or just greater than (N/2)
Step 3: The median value is given by the formula

Where
l = lower limit of the median class
N = total frequency
f = frequency of the median class
h = width of the median class
Cf = cumulative frequency of the class preceding the median class

Let’s do an example on finding median of continuous data, that is the only

case where finding median is sometimes challenging
 Question!

Q Median, for the following distribution is

Wages (₹) Number of labour

0-10 22

10-20 38

20-30 46

30-40 35

40-50 20

A 24.46 B 14.80

C 34.21 D None of these

Question!

Q Median, for the following distribution is

Wages (₹) Number of labour

0-10 22

10-20 38

20-30 46

30-40 35

40-50 20

A 24.46 B 14.80

C 34.21 D None of these

Solution :

Class f cf
0-10 22 22

10-20 38 60

20-30 46 106

30-40 35 141

40-50 20 161
 Question!

Q Consider the following frequency distribution:

Class 0-6 6-12 12-18 18-24 24-30
Frequency a b 12 9 5

If mean and median = 14, then the value (a − b)2 is

equal to______.
JEE Main 22 July, 2021 - Shift 1

Question!

Q Consider the following frequency distribution:

Class 0-6 6-12 12-18 18-24 24-30
Frequency a b 12 9 5

If mean and median = 14, then the value (a − b)2 is

equal to______.

Ans: 4 JEE Main 22 July, 2021 - Shift 1

Solution :

Class Frequency xi fi xi

0-6 a 3 3a

6-12 b 9 9b
12-18 12 15 180

18-24 9 21 189
24-30 5 27 135

N = (26+ a +b) (504 + 3a + 9b)

Solution :

Mode:
The mode is that value in a series of observations which occurs with
greatest frequency. In case of individual series, the mode is the value
which occurs more frequently.

Relation between
Mean, Median and Mode

3 Median = Mode + 2 Mean

 Question!

Q In a moderately skewed distribution the values of mean and

median are 5 and 6, respectively. The value of mode in such
a situation is approximately equal to

A 8

B 11

C 16

D None of these

Question!

Q In a moderately skewed distribution the values of mean and

median are 5 and 6, respectively. The value of mode in such
a situation is approximately equal to

A 8

B 11

C 16

D None of these

Solution :

Given that, mean = 5, median = 6

For a moderately skewed distribution, we have
Mode = 3 median − 2 mean
⇒ Mode = 3(6) − 2(5) = 8
Well, with that measures of Central Tendency are all done

Consider scores of two batsmen in three matches

Batsman A : 0, 150, 0

Batsman B : 48, 50, 52

Try to observe average score of both is same i.e. 50, but it’s very evident
that they have completely different playing styles. That thing which is
making you think like that is “dispersion”. So, to select a batsman from
these two batsmen, mean alone is not giving complete indication of
nature of player, “dispersion” together with “mean” tells you more about
the batting style & hence facilitates better selection.

Measures of dispersion
 Measures of dispersion
We primarily have 5 measures of dispersion, namely
(1) Mean deviation about
(a) Mean
(b) Median

(c) Any given number

(2) Standard deviation
(3) Variance
(4) Range
(5) Coefficient of variation

Lets pick them one by one

Mean deviation:
 Mean deviation:
Mean deviation about any number ‘A’ is:

(a)

(b)

For mean deviation about “Mean” we take in place of A

For mean deviation about “Median” we take median ‘M’ in place of A

Question!

Q Calculate the mean deviation from mean for the following

frequency distribution:
Variable (x) 10 30 50 70 90
Frequency (f) 4 24 28 16 8

Solution :
Let us make the table of the given data and append other columns after
calculations
xi fi fi xi
10 4 40 40 160

30 24 720 20 480

50 28 1400 0 0
70 16 1120 20 320

90 8 720 40 320
80 4000 1280
Solution :

Note
Mean deviation is minimum about Median.

Question!

Q Find the minimum possible number of the mean deviations

from the following data

Class interval 0-6 6 - 12 12 - 18 18 - 24 24 - 30

Frequency 4 5 3 6 2
 Question!

Q Find the minimum possible number of the mean deviations

from the following data

Class interval 0-6 6 - 12 12 - 18 18 - 24 24 - 30

Frequency 4 5 3 6 2

Ans: 7

Solution :
Class interval fi xi cf fidi

0-6 4 3 4 11 44

6 - 12 5 9 9 5 25

12 - 18 3 15 12 1 3

18 - 24 6 21 18 7 42

24 - 30 2 27 20 13 26

Total N = 20 𝚺fixi = 230 𝚺fidi = 140

Solution :
Standard deviation:

Standard deviation:

Given a data, its S.D. (denoted by σ) is found by using following formula

Also,

Note Variance = 𝜎2

Question!

Q The mean of 100 observations is 50 and their standard

deviation is 5. The sum of all squares of all the observations is

A 50000

B 250000

C 252500

D 255000
 Question!

Q The mean of 100 observations is 50 and their standard

deviation is 5. The sum of all squares of all the observations is

A 50000

B 250000

C 252500

D 255000

Solution :

Question!

Q A student scores the following marks in five tests:

45, 54, 41, 57, 43. His score is not known for the sixth test.
If the mean score is 48 in the six tests, then the standard
deviation of the marks in six tests is :

A JEE Main 2019

D
 Question!

Q A student scores the following marks in five tests:

45, 54, 41, 57, 43. His score is not known for the sixth test.
If the mean score is 48 in the six tests, then the standard
deviation of the marks in six tests is :

A JEE Main 2019

Solution :

Question!

Q If mean and standard deviation of 5 observations

x1, x2, x3, x4, x5 are 10 and 3, respectively, then the variance
of 6 observations x1, x2, …., x5 and −50 is equal to:

A JEE Main 2019

509.5

B 586.5

C 582.5

D 507.5
 Question!

Q If mean and standard deviation of 5 observations

x1, x2, x3, x4, x5 are 10 and 3, respectively, then the variance
of 6 observations x1, x2, …., x5 and −50 is equal to:

A JEE Main 2019

509.5

B 586.5

C 582.5

D 507.5

Solution :

Question!

Q The mean and variance of 10 observations are found to be

10 and 4 respectively. On rechecking it was found that an
observation 8 was incorrect. If it is replaced by 18, then the
correct variance is

A 7

B 8

C 9

D
 Question!

Q The mean and variance of 10 observations are found to be

10 and 4 respectively. On rechecking it was found that an
observation 8 was incorrect. If it is replaced by 18, then the
correct variance is

A 7

B 8

C 9

Solution :

We need to know the dependence of 𝜎 on change of origin & scale, as it is

going to provide step deviation method to find “𝜎” which makes involved
calculations easier.
Dependence of 𝛔 on change of origin & scale:

Consider data x1, x2, …, xn with SD as 𝝈x

(a) If yi = xi = A then 𝝈y = 𝝈x
i.e. SD is independent of origin

(b) If then

Note What about Variance?

Question!

Q All the students of a class performed poorly in Mathematics.

The teacher decided to give grace marks of 10 to each of
the students. Which of the following statistical measures will
not change even after the grace marks were given?

A JEE Main 2013

Mean

B Median

C Mode

D Variance

Question!

Q All the students of a class performed poorly in Mathematics.

The teacher decided to give grace marks of 10 to each of
the students. Which of the following statistical measures will
not change even after the grace marks were given?

A JEE Main 2013

Mean

B Median

C Mode

D Variance
Solution :

Clearly variance (as variance is independent of change of origin)

Question!

Q If the variance of 10 observations is 6 & each observation is

multiplied by 3 then new variance is:

A 50

B 40

C 36

D 54

Question!

Q If the variance of 10 observations is 6 & each observation is

multiplied by 3 then new variance is:

A 50

B 40

C 36

D 54
Solution :

Result
Variance of first n natural numbers is

Question!

Q The variance of first 50 even natural numbers is

A JEE Main 2014

B 833

C 437

D
 Question!

Q The variance of first 50 even natural numbers is

A JEE Main 2014

B 833

C 437

Solution :
Mean of first 50 even natural numbers

Shortcut: Required value is 4

Question!

Q If the variance of the first n natural numbers is 10 and the

variance of the first ‘m’ even natural numbers is 16, then
m + n is equal to______

JEE Main 2020

Solution :

Question!

Q Let the observations xi(1 ≤ I ≤ 10) satisfy the equations,

. . If μ and λ are the

mean and the variance of the observations, x1 – 3, x2 – 3,

…… x10 – 3, then the ordered pair (μ, λ) is equal to

A JEE Main 2014

(3, 3)

B (3, 6)

C (6, 6)

D (6, 3)

Question!

Q Let the observations xi(1 ≤ I ≤ 10) satisfy the equations,

. . If μ and λ are the

mean and the variance of the observations, x1 – 3, x2 – 3,

…… x10 – 3, then the ordered pair (μ, λ) is equal to

A JEE Main 2014

(3, 3)

B (3, 6)

C (6, 6)

D (6, 3)
Solution :

Note
(a) Range = xmax − xmin

(b)

Remark
C.V. is independent of units