Measures of Central Tendency II

Median – is the center most observation that divides the data, arranged in either ascending or descending
order into halves. Half of the observations belongs to higher 50% group, while the other half (remaining 50%)
belongs to lower 50% of the group. It is denoted by ~x (reads as x- curl)

Median for Grouped Data

To find the value of the median, we arrange the observations from ascending to descending order or vice
versa. The observation found in the middle is the median.
Example 1: Find the median of the heights (cm.) of the 15 basketball players listed in table below.

181 205 189 185 190 191 191 201

194 187 187 188 183 202 188

Solutions:
Arrange the heights of the 15 players from the shortest to the tallest and identify the height of the middle
player.
181,183,185,187,187,188,188,189,190,191,191,194,201,202,205
Since there are 15 players in the team, then the eight (8th) observation is the median.
~
x=189

n+1
In all cases, if n is odd, the median of the observations corresponds to the th observation. Therefore;
2

~ n+1
x= if n isodd
2
This formula will give us the position of the median relative to the lowest score and the median itself.
n n+1
If n is even, the median is the average of th and th observations. The median is the average of the two
2 2
middle values.
x n+2
x n+
~ 2 2
x=
2
Example 2: Find the median of the following values: 36,40,12,16,23,25,50,38,45,17
Solution: Arranging the data from the highest to lowest values (or vice versa) we have:
12,16,17,23,25,36,38,40,45,50
Since there are 10 values, the median is the average between 10/2 = 5 th
 10+2
Observation which is 25, and the = 6th observation which is 36. Hence the median is:
2

~ 5 th score+6 th score
x=
2

~ 25+36
x=
2
~
x=30.5

Please note that the median 30.5 is not found in the given set of observations. In a set of observations, the
mean and the median may or may not have the same value.

Example 3: Determine the median value for the following sets of data.
A = 23,17,41,12,14,40,36

Solution:
Arrange the values from the lowest to the highest as shown below:
A = 12,14,17,23,36,40 and 41
n+1
Since n = 7 ( odd) The formula is: ~
x=
2

Hence,

7 th+ 1
~
x=x ( 2 )
~ x 8 th
x=
2
~
x=23 ( Fourth score)
Example:
B = 21,23,25,19,18,30,22,26,27 and 20
Solutions:
There are 10 values, and 10 is an even number. Hence, the median is found by using the formula:
x n+2
x n+
~ 2 2
x=
2
x 10+2
x 10 +
~ 2 2
x=
2

~ x 5 th + X 6 th
x=
2
~
x=22.5
Hence, the median is the average of the 5th value = 2 and 6th value = 23

Median for the grouped data:

To compute the median of grouped data, we have to determine the value in which divides the distribution into
two equal parts. Thus, we have to calculate the “less than cumulative frequency” of the distribution.
The median of a grouped data is computed using the formula:

n
~
x=x lb +c ( )
2
−cfb
fm

Where:

Xlb = Lower class boundary of the median class

c = class size or interval size
cfb = less than cumulative frequency before the median class
n = number of observations or total number of frequencies
fm = frequency of the median class
Example: Find the median of the data in the table below.
 Class interval frequency < cf
70-75 2 2
76-81 7 9
82-87 20 29
88-93 21 50
94-99 39 89
100-105 27 116
106-111 14 130
112-117 10 140
118-123 5 145
n = 145

Solutions:
n
1. Get the median class. The median class is the class interval where the th item is contained.
2
n 145
2
= 2
= 72.5

2. Determine the value of the less than cumulative frequency before the median class.
cfb = 50

3. Determine the lower-class boundary of the median class, the frequency of the median class, and the
size of the class interval.

Xlb = 93.5
fm = 39
c=6

4. Substitute the values in the formula as shown below.

n
~
x=x lb +c ( )
2
−cfb
fm
= 93.5 + 6 ( 72.5−50
39 )

= 96.96