Measures of Central Tendency

Unit 1

What are the objectives of study of

Averages or Measures of Central
Tendency?

There are two main objectives:

1. To get one single value that describes the

characteristics of the entire data.

To facilitate comparison

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD
AVERAGE

1.It should be easy to understand.

2. It should be simple to compute.
3. It should be based on all the observations.
4. It should be rigidly defined.
5. It should be capable of further algebraic
treatment.
6.It should not be affected by extreme values.

There are the five different

Measures of Central Tendency
1. Arithmetic Mean
2. Median
3. Mode
4.Geometric Mean
5. Harmonic Mean
Depending upon the need and nature of study,
proper measure is chosen

1. ARITHMETIC MEAN( A.M.)

It is most popular and widely used method for

representing the entire data.

Calculation of Arithmetic meanUngrouped data

i)

Direct method

ii)

Short-cut method.

Calculation of Arithmetic meanUngrouped data( Direct method)

If X1, X2,.,X n denotes n no. of observations, the
A.M. denoted by X is defined as:
X = X1+ X2 +.+ X n
n
n
X
= i=
1
n

Example:
The following figures relate to the monthly output of cloth of a
factory in a given year: Compute average monthly output.
Months

Output ( in 000 metres)

Jan

80

Feb

88

March

92

April

84

May

96

June

92

July

96

August

100

Sept

92

Oct

94

Nov

98

Dec

86

Short-cut Method
To simplify the manual calculations, we may
sometimes use
Change of Origin: We add or subtract (usually
subtract) a constant to the individual
observation.
Change of Scale: This is achieved by
multiplying or dividing each individual
observation by a constant.
Combination of the above two

Solution by using short Cut Method

X

80
88
92
84
96
92
96
100
92
94
98
86

d = X -A

d*= x-A
c

Effect of change of origin and scale

on A.M.

Remember A.M. is not independent of the

change of origin. This means that if same
constant is subtracted from each observation it
must be added in the final answer.
Remember A.M. is not independent of the
change of scale. This means that if each
observation is divided by the same constant the
final answer must be multiplied by the same.

Theoretically we can select any value as

Assumed mean. However, for the purpose of
Simplification of calculation work, the selected
value should be as nearer to the value X as
possible.

X = A+ d* x c
n

Formula Of Arithmetic Mean For

Ungrouped data with frequency
Suppose there be n values X1, X2,.,X n

out of which X1 has occurred f1 times, X2 has

occurred f2 times, ., Xn has
occurred fn times
X = f .X
f

Application
The following is the frequency distribution of age of 670 students
of a school Compute the arithmetic mean of the data.
Age (in years) X
No. of students
(frequency)
5

25

45

90

165

112

10

96

11

81

12

26

13

18

14

12

Direct Method
Age (in
years) X

No. of students
(frequency)

25

45

90

165

112

10

96

11

81

12

26

13

18

14

12

f.x

f.x =5918

Short -Cut

Calculation of Arithmetic Mean of

the Grouped Data
Class Intervals

Frequency

0-10

10-20

20-30

12

30-40

15

40-50

18

50-60

16

60-70

11

70-80

Direct method
X = f .X
f
X= mid point of various classes

Short-cut method
Class
Intervals

Frequency

0-10

10-20

20-30

12

30-40

15

40-50

18

50-60

16

60-70

11

70-80

Mid
values x

fx

Short-cut method
Class
Intervals

Frequency

0-10

10-20

20-30

12

30-40

15

40-50

18

50-60

16

60-70

11

70-80

Mid d=x-35
values x

fd

X =A+ f.d
f

= 35+ 660
88
= 42.5

Correcting Incorrect Values

E.G. 1 The average weekly wage for a group of
25 persons working in a factory was calculated
to be Rs. 378.40. It was later discovered that
one figure was misread as 160 instead of the
correct value Rs. 200. Calculate the correct
average wage
.

380

2.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.
50.9

Properties of Arithmetic Mean

The sum of deviations of all the observations
taken from their arithmetic mean is always
zero.
i.e. (X-X ) =0 , where X =Actual mean
1.

Example
X

X-X

10

-20

20

-10

30

40

+10

50

+20

X = 150

(X- X ) = 0

According to this property, the arithmetic mean

serves as a point of balance or centre of gravity
of the distribution; since sum of the positive
deviations( i.e. deviations of observations which
are greater than X ) is equal to the sum of
negative deviations ( i.e. deviations of
observations which are less than X .

2. The sum of the squares of deviations is

minimum when taken from their arithmetic
mean.
( X- A)2 is minimum if A= X

Example
X

X-X

(X-X)2

-2

-1

+1

+2

X = 20

(X-X )=0

((X-X)2 =10

If the deviation is taken from any other value

(except actual mean), the sum of the squared
deviation would be greater than 10.

3. Arithmetic mean is capable of being treated

algebrically.

If X1 and n1 are mean and number of

observations of a group1 and if X2 and n2 are
mean and number of observations of a group
2, then the mean X of the combined series
[ n1+n2] observations is given by

X=

[n1X1+n2X2]
[n1+n2]

Illustration 1
There are two of a company employing 100 and
80 employees respectively. If average monthly
Salary paid by two branches are Rs.4570 and
Rs.6750 Respectively, find the average monthly
salary of the employees of the company as a
whole.
Ans:5538.89

Illustration 2
The average marks in statistics of 100 students of
a class was 72. The average marks of boys was
75, while their number was 70.
Find the average marks of girls in the class.

Ans: 65

Illustration 3
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 the percentage of men and women in the group.

Ans: 71.43 and 28.57

Illustration 4
The average rainfall for a week, excluding
Sunday, was 10 cms. Due to heavy rainfall on
Sunday, the average for the week rose to 15 cms.
How much rainfall was on Sunday?

Ans:45cms.

Illustration 5
There are 130 teachers and 100 non-teaching employees in a college.
The respective distribution of their monthly salaries are given in the
Following table.
Teachers

Non-teaching Employees

Monthly
Salary (Rs)

Frequency

Monthly
Salary (Rs)

Frequency

4000-5000

10

1000-2000

21

5000-6000

16

2000-3000

45

6000-7000

22

3000-40000

28

7000-8000

67

40000-5000

8000-9000

15

Total

130

Total

100

From the above data find:

i)
Average monthly salary of a teacher.
Average monthly salary of a non-teaching
Employee.
ii)

iii) Average monthly salary of a college

employee
( teaching and non-teaching ).

To find Missing Frequency

The following is the distribution of weights ( in lbs.) of 60
students of a class :
Weights

No. of
students

93-97

98-102

103-107

12

108-112

113-117

14

118-122

123-127

128-132

Total

60

If the mean weight of the students is 110.917,

find the missing frequencies.

Ans: 17 and 6

Example
Find out the missing item (x) of the following frequency
distribution whose arithmetic mean is 11.37.

29

11

54

13

11

16

20

Merits and Demerits of Arithmetic

Mean
Out of all averages arithmetic mean is the most
Popular average in statistics because of the
following merits:
1.

2.

It is simplest average to understand and

easiest to compute.
Arithmetic mean is rigidly defined by a mathematical
formula. As a result of that everyone who compute the
average from a given set of data get the same answer.

3.

Calculation of arithmetic mean is based on all the

observations and hence, it can be considered as
representative of the given data.

4. Being determined by a rigid formula, it is capable

of being treated mathematically and hence, widely
used in statistical analysis.
5.

The mean is typical in the sense that it is the centre

of gravity, balancing either side of it.

Demerits
Although, arithmetic mean satisfies most of the
properties of ideal average, it has certain drawbacks and
should be used with care. Some demerits of arithmetic
mean are:

Since the value of mean depends upon each and

every item of the series, extreme values( i.e. very
small and large items) affect the value of the
average. Hence, it can not represent data consisting
of some extreme observations.

2. It can neither be determined by inspection nor by

graph.
3.

4.

Arithmetic mean can not be computed for a

qualitative data; like data on intelligence, honesty,
smoking habit etc.
Arithmetic mean can not be computed when class
intervals have open ends. In such cases, to compute
mean some assumptions regarding the size of the
class interval (width) of the open-end classes
should be made.

Median
The median by definition refers to the middle
value in a distribution when they are arranged in their
ascending or descending order of their magnitude.

In other words, median of distribution is that value

Which divides it into two equal parts. It is called
Positional average because its value depends upon the
Position of an item and not on its magnitude.

Weighted Arithmetic Mean

X = WX
W

Determination of Median
When individual observations are given :
Example, If the income of five employees are
Rs. 900, 950, 1020, 1200 and 1280. Calculate
the median.
a)

Example on Calculation of Median

for even no. of observations
If the income of six employees are
Rs. 900, 950, 1020, 1200 , 1280, 1300.
Calculate the median.

Note: there is no single middle position value

and median is taken to be the A.M. of two
middle most items.

Hence, in case of median may be found by

averaging two middle position values.

Observations:
The following steps are involved in the calculation
of Median

The given observations are arranged in either

ascending or descending order of magnitude.
ii Given that there are n observations, the median is
given by:
(n+1) th observation , when n is odd.
2
iii When n is even, median is n th observation ie
A.M of middle values.
2

Illustrations
Obtain the value of median from the following
data:
391 384 591 407 672 522 777 753 2488
1490

b) Computation of Median Discrete

series
Example: From the
following data find
the value of median

Income No. of
(Rs.) persons
1000

24

1500

26

800

16

2000

20

2500

1800

30

Income (Rs.)

No. of persons

800

16

1000

24

1500

26

1800

30

2000

20

2500

Cumulative
Frequency(c.f.)

Steps
i.

Arrange the data in ascending or decending

order of magnitude.

ii Find out the cumulative frequencies

iii Apply the formula: Median = size of n+1

2

iv Now look at the cumulative frequency

column and find the total which is either equal
to n+1 or next higher to that and determine
2
the value of the variable corresponding to it.
That gives the value of median.

c) Calculation of MedianContinuous Series

Example: Calculate the
median of the following
frequency Distribution.

Classes Frequency
0-10

10-20

12

20-30

14

30-40

18

40-50

13

50-60

c.f

Determine the median class. In grouped data use

(n/2) as the median class and not n+1
2

Apply the Formula:

Median= L + N/2 c.f x i
f
L= lower boundary of the median class
c.f = cumulative frequency of the class preceding to the
median class.
f = frequency of the median class.
i = The class interval of the median class.

Median=

More Illustration: calculate median

Marks
5-10
10-15
15-20
20-25
25-30
30-35
35-40
40-45
45-50

No. of students
7
15
24
31
42
30
26
15
10

Illustration :calculate median

Weight
(in
grams)

No. of apples

410-419
420-429
430-439
440-449
450-459
460-469
470-479

14
20
42
54
45
18
7

Example of open-end class

Class
Intervals

frequency

Less than 425

2
8
33
80
170
213
213
145
91
45

425-475
475-525
525-575
575-625
625-675
675-725
725-775
775-825
825-875

c.f.

Determination of Missing Frequencies

If the frequencies of some classes are missing,
however, the median of the distribution is
known, then these frequencies can be determined
by the use of median formula.

Example
The following table gives the distribution of daily wages of 900
workers. However, the frequencies of the classes 40-50 and 60-70 are
Missing. If the median of the distribution is Rs.59.25, find the missing
frequencies.
Wages (Rs.)
Frequency
30-40

120

40-50

50-60

200

60-70

70-80

185

f1=145, f2=250

Calculaton of Median when class

Intervals are Unequal
Calculate the median from the following data:
Marks
0-10
10-30
30-60
60-80
80-90

No. of students
5
15
30
8
2

Note: when the class intervals are unequal, there

is no need to make any adjustment to make it
equal.

Ans:40

Merits and Demerits of Median

Merits
1)
It is easy to understand and simple to calculate.
2)

3)

4)

Median can be determined even when class intervals have openends (since only the position not the values of item must be
known.)
The median is recommended if the classes are not equal width,
since it is easier to compute than mean.
Extreme values do not influence the median. In fact when
extreme values are present in the data , the median is more
satisfactory measure of average than mean. For example, the
median of 10,20,30, 40 and 150 would be 30 whereas mean is
50. Hence, very often when extreme values are present in a set of
observations, the median is a more satisfactory measure of
central tendency.

5)

The value of median can be determined

graphically whereas the value of A.M. can not
be determined graphically.

Demerits or limitations of Median

1.

2.

3.

For calculating median, it is necessary to arrange

the data in order of magnitude, which may be
cumbersome task, particularly when the number of
observations are very large.
It is not capable of algebraic treatment. For example
median can not be used for determining the
combined median of two or more groups as is
possible in case of mean.
It is not based on all the values.

Related Positional Averages

Besides median, there are other measures which
divide
a series into equal parts. Important among these are
quartiles, deciles and percentiles.

Quartiles
Quartiles are those values of the variable which divide the
total frequency into four equal parts, deciles divide the
total frequency into 10 equal parts and the percentiles divide
the total frequency into 100 equal parts .

Computation of Quartiles
Since there values are needed to divide a distribution into four
equal parts, there are three quartiles , Q1, Q2 and Q3, known as the

first, second and third quartiles respectively.

In Individual observations and discrete series

Q1=Size of N+1 th item.
4
Q2=Size of N+1 th item.
2
Q3=Size of 3(N+1) th item
4

Example
Price of a commodity in 8 different shops are as
follows. Calculate the quartiles.
Price (Rs): 208, 205,212,209, 207,210,208,206.
Solution:
Arrange in their ascending order of magnitude.
205,206,207,208,209,210,212

The first quartile isQ1=Size of N+1 th value in the series

4
=(8+1) th value
4
= (2.25) th value
= 2nd value + 0.25( 3rd value- 2nd value )
= 206+ 0.25(207-206)
= 206.25/Similarly, calculate Q2 and Q3.

For Continuous Series

Q1=Size of N th item.
4
Q2=Size of N th item.
2
Q3=Size of 3(N) th item
4

Deciles and Percentiles

D1 = (N+1) th item ( in individual and discrete series)
10
D1 = N th item ( in continuous series)
10
..
P1 = (N+1) th item ( in individual and discrete series)
100
P1 = N th item ( in continuous series)
100

Illustration
From the following data compute the value of upper
quartiles (Q3) and lower quartiles (Q1) ,D2, P5 and
Marks
No. of Students
P90.
Below 10

10-20

10

20-40

22

40-60

25

60-80

10

Above 80

Marks

No. of Students

C.f.

Below 10

10-20

10

18

20-40

22

40

40-60

25

65

60-80

10

75

Above 80

80=N

Q1=Size of N th item = 80/4= 20th item.

4
Hence Q1 lies in the class 20-40.
Q1= L+ N/4c.f. x i
f
=21.82
Q3 = L+ N/4c.f. x I
f
= 56.
D2 = Size of 2N th item = 16th item.
10

Hence D2 lies in the class 10-20.

D2= L + 2N/10 c.f. X i
f
= 18

P5 = Size of 5N th item = 4th

10
Hence P5 lies in the class 0-10.

MODE
Mode is that value which occurs maximum number of times in a
distribution. In other words, modal value is that value in a series
of observations which occurs with the highest frequency.

For example, what is the mode of the following series

3,5,8,5,4,5,9,3.
Ans. is 5 , since this value occurs more frequently than any of the
others.

Example
Calculate modal size of
shoes from the following
data:

Size of shoes No. of shoes

5

10

20

25

40

22

10

15

11

Remarks:

i) When there are two or more values having the same

maximum frequency, one cannot say which is the modal
value and hence mode is said to be ill-defined. Such a series
is also known as bi-modal or multi-modal.
For example, observe the following data:
Income( Rs): 110, 120,130,120,110,140,130,120,130,140.
Since 120 and 130 have the same maximum frequency i.e. 3,
mode will be 120 and 130. So, in this case mode is illdefined.
When mode is ill-defined, its value may be determined by the
following formula based upon the relationship between
mean, median and mode:
Mode = 3Median 2 Mean.

Remarks:
ii)

If the frequency of each possible value is

same, there is no mode.
Ex: X 5
f

10 15 20 25 30 35 40
6

Calculation of Mode- Continuous Series

Step 1
By inspection identify the modal class ( the class
having the highest frequency).
Step 2
Determine the value of mode by Applying the
following formula
M= L+

1
1+ 2

x i

Where L = lower boundary of the modal class

1= the difference between the frequency of the
modal class and the frequency of the premodal class( i.e. preceding class).
2 = the difference between the frequency of the
modal class and the frequency of the postmodal class( i.e. succeeding class).

i = the class interval of the modal class

Illustration
Calculate mode from the
following data:

Marks

No. of students

Above 0

80
77
72
65
55
43
28
16
10
8
0

Above 10
Above 20
Above 30
Above 40
Above 50
Above 60
Above 70
Above 80
Above 90
Above 100

Solution:
Since it is more than type
cumulative frequency
distribution, we will
convert it into simple
frequency distribution.

Marks
0- 10
10-20
20-30
30-40
40-50
50-60
60-70
70-80
80-90
90-100

No. of students

3
5
7
10
12
15
12
6
2
8

By inspection the modal class is 50-60.

M= L+
=

1
1+ 2

x i

Find the Mode of the data given

below:
Weight (kg)
93-97
98-102
103-107
108-112
113-117
118-122
123-127
128-132

No. of students
2
5
12
17
14
6
3
1

By inspection mode lies in the class 108-112.

But the boundaries of this class is 107.5-112.5.
Mode= L +

1
1+ 2

x i

L = 107.5
1 = (17-12)=5
2 = (17-14)=3
Mode = 107.5+ 3.125 = 110.625.

Calculation of Mode by Method of

Grouping & Analysis
In frequency distribution, sometimes mode can not be
determined just by inspection ( looking at the table) when the
maximum frequency and the preceding it and succeeding it
is very small. In such cases it is desirable to prepare a
Grouping table and an analysis table. These tables help us in
determining the mode.

Ex-Discrete Series
Calculate the value of mode for the following table:
Marks (X)

Frequency

10
15
20
25
30
35
40

8
12
36
35
28
18
9

Solution: Since it is difficult to say by inspection which is the

modal value, we prepare grouping and analysis tables.

Steps of preparing a grouping table:

1.
Prepare a table consisting of six columns in addition to a
column for various values of X.
2.
In the first column write the frequencies against the various
values of X as given in the question and mark the highest
frequency.
3.
In second column, starting from the top, take the sum of
frequencies which are grouped in twos and mark the highest
frequency.
4. In 3rd column, leave the first frequency and then group the
remaining in twos and take the sum of frequencies and mark
the highest frequency.

5. In col 4, group the frequencies in threes, take the sum of

frequencies of each group and mark the highest frequency.

6. In col 5, leave the first frequency, then group them in threes.

Take the sum of frequencies of each group and mark the
highest frequency.
7. In col 6, leave the first two frequencies, then group them in
threes. Take the sum of frequencies of each group and mark
the highest frequency.

X
10
15
20
25
30
35
40

Col 1(f) Col 2 Col 3

Col 4 Col 5

Col 6

8
12

20
48

36 *
35

83

71
63

28
18

56

99

81
55

46
27

After this grouping, prepare an

Analysis table
Col
no

10

15

20

25

30

6
Total

35

40

The values against which frequencies are the

highest are marked in the grouping table and
entered by means of a bar (/) in the Analysis
table.
Total is maximum corresponding to the value
25.So mode is 25.

Calculate mode of the following

distribution
Class Intervals

Frequency

0-10

10-20

15

20-30

18

30-40

30

40-50

29

50-60

60-70

70-80

Step 1: Identify the modal class. By inspection, it

is difficult to locate. Hence, modal class will be
determined by method of grouping and analysis.

X
0-10
10-20
20-30
30-40

Col 1(f) Col 2 Col 3 Col 4

15

22
33

18
30
29

50-60

70-80

Col 6

40-50

60-70

Col 5

48

63
77

59

33

63
36

3
1

40

Column 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 70-80

no
1

6
Total

/
6

/
3

From the analysis table, the modal class is 30-40.

Mode= L +

1
1+ 2

x i

L= 30 , 1 =12 , 2 = 1
=

Merits and Demerits of Mode

1.

2.

3.

4.

It is easy to understand and easy to calculate. In many cases

it can be located just by inspection.
It is not effected by extreme values. For example, the mode
of 10, 2, 5, 10,5, 60, 5, 10, 60,10 is 10 as it has occurred
most often in the data.
It can be determined even if the distribution has open-end
classes.
It is a value around which there is more concentration of
observation and hence the best representative of data.

Demerits
1.
It is not based on all the observations.
2.
It is not capable of further mathematical
treatment.
3.
The value of mode cannot always be
determined. In some cases we may have a
bimodal or multimodal series.

1.a) For a distribution, mode and mean are 32.1

and 35.4 respectively. Find the value of
median.

Ans 34.3

b) Given median = 20.6 mode = 26, find mean

Ans. 17.9

Geometric Mean ( G.M.)

The Geometric Mean of a series of n positive
numbers is defined as the nth root of their
product.
G.M.= n (X1 )x (X2.) x(X n)
G.M.= (X1. X2 X n) 1/n

For example G.M. of 3 values 2,3,4 would be:

G.M.= 2x3x4
= 2.885

When the number of items are large, the task of

multiplying the numbers and of extracting the root
becomes excessively difficult. To simplify calculations
logarithms are used. Geometric mean then calculated as
follows:

log G.M.= log X1+ log X2 +. + log X n

n
log G.M.= log X
n
G.M.= Antilog log X
n

Weighted Geometric Mean

If the various observations are not equal importance
in the data, we calculate weighted arithmetic mean.
Weighted Geometric Mean of the observations
X1. X2 X n with respective weights as w1, w2,
.wn is
G.M.= Antilog

w. log X
w

Harmonic Mean
Harmonic mean is defined as the reciprocal of the
Arithmetic mean of the reciprocals of the data,
( none of which is zero).
If there are n observations X1. X2 X n , their
Harmonic Mean is defined as:
H.M.=
n
1/ X1 + 1/ X2+.. +1/ Xn

Example
1.Calculate the harmonic mean of 8 and 10.

2. Ram goes from his house to office on a car at

a speed of 60km/hour and returns at a speed of
40km/hour. Find his average speed

Relation between A.M., G.M. and H.M.

G.M. =

A.M. x H.M.

Application
If the arithmetic mean of two positive numbers is
15 and their geometric mean is 9, find their
harmonic mean.