Introduction to

Descriptive Statistics

K S Deepika
Department of MBA
Measures of Descriptive Statistics

Measures of Descriptive Statistics

Central Tendency Dispersion

Arithmetic Median Mode

Mean Range Quartiles

Geometric Mean Variance Quartile Deviation

Harmonic Mean
Standard Deviation
 Requisites of a Good Central Tendency Measure

I. It should be rigidly defined

II. It should be easy to understand and calculate
III.It should be based on all the observations.
IV.It should be suitable for further mathematical treatment.
V. It should be affected as little as possible by fluctuations of sampling.
VI.It should not be affected much by extreme observations.
Measures of Central Tendency

Central Tendency

Average (Mean) Median Mode

Mean (Arithmetic Mean)
• Mean (arithmetic mean) of data values
• Sample mean
Sample Size
n

X i
X1 + X 2 + + Xn
X= i =1
=
n n
• Population mean
Population Size
N

X i
X1 + X 2 + + XN
= i =1
=
N N
Mean (Arithmetic Mean)

Individual Data Discrete Data Continuous Data

 Mean (Arithmetic Mean)
Calculate arithmetic mean of the weight of 10 students in a class.
Sl No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Weight (in kgs) 42 56 49 50 49 53 52 48 47 54

Mean (Arithmetic Mean)
Mean (Arithmetic Mean)
 Mean (Arithmetic Mean)
The following is the frequency distribution of the number of
telephone calls received in 245 successive one- minute intervals in
an exchange. Find the average.

Number of calls 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Frequency 14 21 25 43 51 40 39 12

Mean = 3.763
 Merits and Demerits of Averages

MERITS
• It is rigidly defined
• It is easy to understand and calculate
• It is based on all the observations.
• It is suitable for further mathematical treatment.
• It is affected least by fluctuations of sampling---> arithmetic mean is a stable average.
 Merits and Demerits of Averages
DEMERITS
• Affected by exterme observations
• Cannot be used with open end classes
• Cannot be determined by inspection nor can it be located graphically.
• Cannot be used for qualitative characteristics which cannot be measured
quantitatively.
• Cannot be calculated if single observation is missing or lost
• Not suitable for assymetric distribution
• It leads to wrong conclusions if the details of the data from which it is obtained are
not available.
THANK YOU

K S Deepika
Department of MBA
deepikaks@pes.edu