POSITION PAPER ABOUT MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

In terms of data and statistics getting accurate results are at outmost priority. In the following
points below, we will analyze the mean, median and mode which are the measures of a central
tendency. Both advantages and disadvantages of these three measures will be discussed
furthermore and also, there will be a detailed explanation on how these central tendency
measures are identified based on their shape and what it indicates in the distribution.
To make a deeper understanding on the topic, A measure of central tendency is a single value
that attempts to describe a set of data by identifying the central position within that set of data.
(Laerd Statistics,2018) The mean, median and mode differ in purposes and accuracy. See for
example, the mean is mainly used to get the average of all set of scores given, advantageously, it
can give a precise result of numbers, but it also has disadvantage such as it cannot be determined
by merely monitoring or inspecting unlike the median and mode. With that being said, the
median, it has a lot to tell when it comes to advantages, median is easy to find, easy to
understand and easy to compute. But then like the two measures of tendencies it also gives
disadvantage whereas the median is not precise and some value might not be used during the said
measure. Lastly, for the mode, it is basically the most frequent number shown in a set of data
scores. The mode is very observable and the easiest to determine as a central tendency measure,
but as every other does, mode disadvantaged when it does not give enough results to give the
purpose of finding the shape in a distribution.

The shape of distribution is often defined by symmetrical and asymmetrical distribution. A

normal curve of distribution is bell-shaped meaning it peak at the center of the data and equally
on the two tails from left and right, a normal curve is an example of equal mean, mode and
median. While if a distribution is skewed to the left or a positively skewed data, the mean is less
than the median, which is often less than the mode. On the other hand, if the data is skewed to
the right, or the negatively skewed data, the mode is often less than the median, which is less
than the mean. (Lumen, 2018) Though the mode and median play a big part in data distribution I
conclude that the mean is the most accurate and the most needed when it comes to measuring a
data of descriptive statistics.

REFERENCES:
Lumen Learning, O. S. (n.d.). Introduction to statistics. Lumen. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/odessa-introstats1-1/chapter/skewness-and-the-mean-median-and-mode/
Measures of central tendency. Mean, Mode and Median - Measures of Central Tendency - When to use with
Different Types of Variable and Skewed Distributions | Laerd Statistics. (2018). Retrieved February 24, 2022, from
https://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/measures-central-tendency-mean-mode-median.php#:~:text=A
%20measure%20of%20central%20tendency,within%20that%20set%20of%20data.&text=The%20mean
%20(often%20called%20the,the%20median%20and%20the%20mode.