MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

Chapter Objectives:
At the end of the chapter, the students will be able to:
1. describe and explain the uses of the different kinds of the measures of central
tendency;
2. determine the most appropriate average for a given set of data.
3. compute manually the mean, median, mode for ungrouped and grouped data;
4. interpret results of the measures of the central tendency.

Definition of Terms

Measures of Central Tendency are numerical descriptive measures which indicate or

locate the center of a distribution or data set. Average is a term which can be associated with
central tendency or central location. The three types of measures of central tendency are mean,
median and mode.

Mean is the sum of all the measurements divided by the number of measurements in
the set. This is the most appropriate measure of central tendency when the data are in the
interval or ratio scale. It lies between the largest and the smallest values.

Median is the middle value of a given set of measurements. This is the most appropriate
measure of central tendency for interval data. This lies between the highest and lowest
measurements. There is only one value for the median in a given set of measurements. This is
not influenced by extreme values.

Mode is the value which occurs most frequently in a set of measurement of values. This
is the most appropriate measure of central tendency when the data are nominal in scale. This is
the least reliable among the three measures of central tendency because its value is undefined
in some distributions.

Ungrouped Data for Measures of Central Tendency

A. Mean
To find the arithmetic mean, add all the observations then divide the sum by the
total number of observations. In symbols, x́, is the mean.

∑ xi
x́= i=1
N
Where x i = ith observation
N = total number of observations
i = 1, 2,…n
 Example 1: The grades of Princess Nicole in five subjects are 78, 88, 89, 90 and 95. What
is her mean grade?
Solution:
78+88+89+ 90+95
x́=
5
440
x́=
5

x́=88

Therefore, the average grade of Princess Nicole in five subjects is 88.

Example 2: Find the mean score of the students using the table below

Students’ Scores in a Statistics Examination

x Frequency
10 7
11 12
20 20
24 12
33 5
Total 56

Solution:
7 ( 10 ) +12 ( 11 )+ 20 ( 20 )+ 12 ( 24 )+ 5(33)
x́=
56

1055
x́=
56

x́=18.84

Therefore, the mean score of the students in the Statistics exam is 18.84
 Example 3: The School of Hospitality Management of Philippine Women’s College of
Davao has six employees whose salaries are the following: two clerks with
the salary of Php 13,500 each, one executive secretary with a salary of Php
18, 000, one janitor with a salary of Php 8,000, one accountant with a salary
of Php 28,000 and one department head with a salary of Php 50,000. What is
the mean monthly salary of the employees?
Solution:
2 ( Php 13,500 ) +1 ( Php 18,000 ) +1 ( Php 18,000 ) +1(Php 50,000)
x́=
6

131,000
x́=
6

x́=21,833.33

Therefore, the mean monthly salary of the employees in the School of

Hospitality Management in PWC is Php 21, 833.33

Example 4: Ton, is a Fine Arts student of PWC, earned a prelim and midterm grades of
82 and 78 respectively in Business Math. What must be his final grade to
earn an average of 85?

Solution:
PrelimGrade+ Midterm Grade+ Final Grade
x́=
3

82+78+ FG
85=
3

85 ( 3 )=160+ FG

255−160=160−160+ FG

95=Fina lGrade

Therefore, the final grade is 95.

 B. Median
The median is the midpoint of an array of numbers or observations. It divides the
distribution into two equal parts. Let us denote the median by the symbol Md. If a set of
data contains an odd number of observations, the median is the only middle observation
that divides the set into two equal parts.

Example 1: Find the median score of selected first year college students in Principle of
Tourism chapter quiz.
12, 34, 23, 14, 16, 33, 41, 35, 10, 45, 25, 24, 50

Solution: Write the observation in ascending order.

10, 12, 14, 16, 23, 24, 25, 33, 34, 35, 41, 45, 50

Thus, the median score is 25.

Example 2: The ages of guests at PWC Mini Hotel are 10, 2, 5, 6, 5, 8, 9, and 9. Find the
median of the guests’ ages.

Solution: Write the ages in ascending order.

2, 5, 5, 6 8 9, 9, 10

6+ 8
Md=
2

14
Md=
2

Md=7

The median for an array with an even number of observations can be

obtained by finding the mean of the two points at the middle. In example 2, the
points are 6 and 8. Therefore, the median is 7.
C. Mode
The mode is the observation that appears the most number of times in a
distribution. Let us denote the mode by the symbol Mo.

Example 1: What is the mode of the following scores of selected first year students in
Statistics?
Solution:
3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8 and 7

M o=7 (Unimodal)
Example 2: What is the mode of the following heights of freshman college students?

152cm, 166cm, 176cm, 150cm,1 68cm, 155cm, 149cm

Solution:
There is no mode in this distribution.

Example 3: What is the mode of the students’ scores in a Statistics Test? The scores are
as follows:

12, 13, 12, 11, 10, 20, 24, 25, 10, 22, 20, 13, 16, 18, 20, 20, 20, 20

Solution:
Score Frequenc
y
12 2
13 2
11 1
10 2 highest frequency
20 6
24 1
25 1
22 1
16 1
18 1
Therefore, the mode is 20 since it is the
observation or score that appeared the most number of times.
 Example 4: Given the following grades of selected first year students section H in English
Plus A: 83, 87, 87, 88, 88, 86

Solution:
Mo=87∧88(Bimodal)

There are two modes, 87 and 88, since both observations occurred at the same
number of times and are the most frequent. In any given set of data, there can be one
mode, two or more modes, or none at all.
Exercises: Mean, Median and Mode for Ungrouped Data
Name: ________________________________________ Score: ________________
Year, Course and Section: _________________________ Date: ______

1. Find the mean, median and mode of the ages of selected first year Tourism students last
First Trimester, SY 2010 -2011.

17 16 15 17 12 20 25 18 10 17 22

2. The following are the salary of select full-time teachers of the tertiary department;
Php 16,500; Php 21,500; Php 18,990; Php 15,250; Php 24,490, Php 19,565 and Php
17,850. Find the mean, median and mode of the given distribution.

3. The following is the number of liters sold from each quarter of the Ben’s Gasoline
Station last year. Find the mean and median of the given table of values. Write your
answer on the space provided on the table.

Number of Liters
Type of First Second 3rd quarter Mean Median
Gasoline quarter quarter
Premium 36 48 48
Unleaded 43 29 39
Extra 34 29 41
Super Extra 18 15 20
Total
Mean
Median
Grouped Data for Measures of Central Tendency
A. Mean
For grouped data, the formula for finding the mean is as follows:
N

∑ f i xi
x́= i=1
N

where

f i=ith frequency

x i=ith class mark

i=1 , … … , N

N=total number of observations

Example 1: Find the mean of the given table below:

Ages of Guests in PWC Mini Hotel, August, 2009

Age (in years) f x fx
40 – 44 7 42 294
35 – 39 11 37 407
30 – 34 8 32 256
25 – 29 9 27 243
20 – 24 12 22 264
15 – 19 5 17 85
10 – 14 8 12 96
N=60 ∑ fx=1,645
The mean age of the guests in PWC Mini Hotel is

1,645
x́=
60

x́=27.42

Therefore, the mean age of the guests in PWC Mini Hotel is 27.42 years old.
 B. Median
The formula for finding the median of a grouped data is given by:

N
−¿ CF b
2
Md=L Md + ⌊ ⌋i
f Md

where
L Md=¿ lower class boundary of the median class
¿ CF b =¿ less than cumulative frequency below the median class
i=¿ class size
f Md =¿frequency of the median class

Example: Find the median of the given table below:

Ages of Guests in PWC Mini Hotel, August, 2019

Class
Boundaries ¿Cumulative
Age(in years) f x fx Lower Upper Frequency
40 – 44 7 42 294 39.5 44.5 60
35 – 39 11 37 407 34.5 39.5 53
30 – 34 8 32 256 29.5 34.5 42
25 – 29 9 27 243 24.5 29.5 34 Median
class
20 – 24 12 22 264 19.5 24.5 25
15 – 19 5 17 85 14.5 19.5 13
10 – 14 8 12 96 9.5 14.5 8
N=60 ∑ fx=1,645
N N
Get the value of to determine the median class. From the given data, is
2 2
60
=30. Then, look for the ¿ CF that is nearest to, but not less than 30. The median class
2
is the class interval 25 – 29. The value of L Md=24.5 . The value of ¿ CF b =25, i=5 , and
the frequency of the median class if 9. Substitute to the formula,

Solution:
30−25
Md=24.5+ [ 9 ]
5
 Md=24.5+ 2.78

Md=27.28 years old

C. Mode
To find the mode of a grouped data, the formula below is applied:
∆1
Mo=LMo + [
∆ 1+ ∆ 2
i ]
where
Mo=¿ modal class or the class interval with the highest frequency
L Md=¿ lower class boundary of the modal class
∆ 1=¿ difference between the frequency of the modal class and the
next class lower in value
∆ 2=¿ difference between the frequency of the modal class and the next class higher in value
i=¿ class size

Note: If there are two or more highest frequencies, we will use the formula: M o=3 ( Md ) −2 x́
Example: Find the mode of the given table below:

Ages of Guests in PWC Mini Hotel, August, 2019

Class
Boundaries ¿Cumulative
Age(in years) f x Fx Lower Upper Frequency
40 – 44 7 42 294 39.5 44.5 60
35 – 39 11 37 407 34.5 39.5 53
30 – 34 8 32 256 29.5 34.5 42
25 – 29 9 27 243 24.5 29.5 34
20 – 24 12 22 264 19.5 24.5 25
modal class
15 – 19 5 17 85 14.5 19.5 13
10 – 14 8 12 96 9.5 14.5 8
N=60 ∑ fx =1,645
The modal class is the class interval, 20 – 24 because this is the class interval with
the highest frequency. L Mo=19.5 , ∆ 1=12−5=7 and ∆ 2=12−9=3 ; i=5

Solution:
 7
M o=19.5+ [ ]
7+ 3
5

M0 = 19.5 + 3.5 = 23

Exercise : Measures of Central Tendency for Grouped data

Name: _______________________________________________Score: _____________
Year, Course and Section: ________________________________Date: ________________

1. Given the frequency table below, find the mean, median and mode.

Monthly Income f
(in thousands)
40 – 44 5
35 – 39 6
30 – 34 9
25 – 29 18
20 – 24 13
15 – 19 10
10 – 14 5
5–9 2
Exercise : Measures of Central Tendency for Grouped data
Name: ____________________________________________________ Score: _________
Year, Course and Section: _____________________________________ Date: ______________

1. Construct the frequency distribution table, and compute the mean, median and mode of
the weights in pounds of marinated chicken sold over a month by Choks Choks In Go.

92 90 89 110 130 130

118 118 118 139 140 118
189 132 114 109 111 139
85 98 100 134 139 112
95 97 128 109 119 90

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