MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

The frequency distribution summarizes the given mass of data, but for practical purposes there is
usually a need for further condensation, particularly when we want to compare two or more different
distributions. We may even reduce the entire distribution to one number which represents the
distribution. We calculate ‘Measures of central tendency’ for this purpose. These measures summarize
the given mass of data in much more concise fashion than a frequency distribution. Frequency
distribution has too many details while an average reduces the large number of observations to one
figure.
The term ‘averages’ is used very often e.g., average Indian, average marks, or average size, etc.,
Sometimes it means ‘typical or usual’ like average Indian. It may also refer to the result of a specific
process of calculation like average marks of students.
Average is used to reduce two or more aggregates to a common denominator, in order to make
comparisons. It can be used to compare the totals for time periods of different lengths, e.g., if we have
the figures of production for time periods of different lengths, e.g., if we have the figures of production
for the months of January and February, in 1985 the production for the month of January is 4000 units
while for the month of February it is 3640 units. We cannot compare the two figures, 4000 and 3640
units. The reason is, January has 31 days while February has 28 days. Here we find the average daily
production by dividing the total by the number of days. The average daily production of January is
4000 3640
= 129.03 units while the average daily production of February is = 130 units i.e., There is
31 28
no significant difference between the production rate for the two months. Though the total production
in February is less, the daily production rate is almost the same.
The number of deaths due to traffic accidents in two different periods should not be compared directly.
The number should be compared with the total population and deaths per thousand should be
calculated. The number of accidents is affected by the number of vehicles on the road and therefore we
can also compare the number of accidents per 100 vehicles.
Averages are also used as a measure of typical size. It gives one figure that is typical of all the
observations that are essentially different. If the items are scattered, the measure will not be very
satisfactory while for homogeneous data the average will be a good representative of the data. But it is
necessary to have this kind of summary statement for many statistical data.
There are five averages which are conceptually different and each of them is from some point of view
of a ‘central’ value of the distribution. The averages are also referred to as ‘measures of central
tendency’ because they are used to describe a magnitude near the centre of a distribution about which
the values cluster.
If we have the distribution of marks of students, very few students will get marks like 4, 5, 8, …. and
similarly there will be a small number of students getting above 80. Most of the students will have
marks between 40 and 60 and the average will be somewhere within these limits, that is, average is a
central figure. Averages are also known as ‘measures of location’.
Each of these averages has its own advantages and disadvantages. But there are certain characteristics,
which make the average a good representative of the given data.
CRITERIA FOR SATISFACTORY AVERAGE
1. An average should be rigidly defined; otherwise its value will be affected by the bias of the
person who calculates it. It cannot be a good representative if it is not a fixed value.
2. It should be based on all the observations. It sill not be a good representative if some
observations are left out of calculation.
3. It should be easy to calculate and easy to understand. If the calculations requires tedious
mathematical process, it will not be understood by many and it use will be limited.
4. It should be capable of further algebraic treatment. This makes the average more useful.

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 5. It should not be affected much by sampling fluctuations. If two independent samples are taken
from the same population, the average should not differ significantly.
It should also be remembered that the average should be expressed in the same unit as the series given.
i.e., If we have the heights of 50 children in cms and the average is 130, it should be written as 130
cms. If the income of 100 families are given in (’00 Rs.) and the average is 30, the average should be
expressed as 30(100 Rs.) or Rs.3000/-. Now we consider the types of averages.
ARITHMETIC MEAN:
Arithmetic mean is defined as the sum of all the observations in the distribution divided by the number
of observations, i.e., if a variable x takes the values x1 , x2 , x3 ,....., xn , its arithmetic mean is defined as
n

x + x + x +  + xn x x i
x= 1 2 3 = =
i =1 i

n n n

i.e., x=
x i

n
If a variable x tames values x1 , x2 , x3 ,....., xn with corresponding frequencies f1 , f 2 , f 3 ,......., f n , then
their arithmetic mean is defined as
n

f x + f x + f 3 x3 +  + f n xn fx fx i i

x= 1 1 2 2 = =
i =1 i i

f 
f1 + f 2 + f 3 +  + f n n
f i
i
i =1

Exercise:
1. Find the arithmetic mean for the following sets of observations:
a) 125, 132, 127, 139, 140, 142, 137, 122, 120 and 130
b) 13.1, 15.2, 11.9, 10.2, 12.5, 14.3, 11.2, 10.8
c) 1357, 1454, 1389, 1405, 1485
d) 53, 31, 35, -25, 100, 60, -16, 13, -3, 95
[ Answers: a) 131.4 b) 12.4 c) 1418 d) 34.3 ]
2. Calculate the mean for the following data:
xi 12 14 16 18 20 22
fi 5 10 15 12 8 3
[ Answer: 16.6415 ]
3. Calculate the mean shoe size for the following distribution:
Size of Shoe: 6 7 8 9 10 11
No. of pairs: 32 40 52 40 32 25
[ Answer: 8.3394 ~ 8 ]
4. Calculate the mean for the following data:
xi 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
fi 11 15 20 16 12 9 4
[ Answer: 7.5287 ]

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5. The following data represents frequency distribution of weights of children, find its arithmetic
mean.
Wt. in Kgs. 11 12 13 14 15 16
No. of Children 7 11 15 13 9 4
[ 13.305 kgs ]
6. The following data represents distribution of marks (out of 10) for a class of students. Find the
arithmetic mean.
Marks: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
No. of Students: 2 4 5 7 11 15 13 10 7 3 1
[ Answer: 5.06 ]
7. Find the arithmetic mean for the following distribution:
Marks: 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50
No. of students 6 11 15 8 3
[ Answer: 22.91 ]
8. Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data giving daily wages of workers.
Wages in Rs.: 20-40 40-60 60-80 80-100 100-120 120-140
No. of workers: 7 12 16 13 13 4
[ Answer: 77.69 ]
9. Find the mean for the following data:
Age in years No. of persons
Less than 10 15
Less than 20 33
Less than 30 54
Less than 40 80
Less than 50 97
Less than 60 100
[ Answer: 27.1 ]
10. Find the arithmetic mean for the following:
Daily wages: 5-15 15-25 25-35 35-45 44-55
No. of persons: 3 8 13 10 5
[ Answer: 31.54 ]
11. Calculate the arithmetic mean for the following data representing weekly salary of a group of
employees.
Salary in Rs.: 700-800 800-900 900-1000 1100-1500 1500-1600
No. of persons: 32 43 55 22 18
12. Find the mean for the following data.
Class Interval: 20-30 30-50 50-70 70-90 90-100
Frequency: 9 14 20 12 5
13. Calculate the arithmetic mean:
Sales in ‘000 Rs.: 5-10 10-15 15-25 25-35 35-45 45-50
No. of shops: 2 8 12 15 11 5
14. The following data represents yield per acre (in kgs.) for a number of farms. Find the arithmetic
mean.
Yield per acre: 700-750 750-800 800-850 850-900 900-950 950-1000
No. of farms: 32 43 55 22 17 18
15. The following is the distribution of heights in cms of 50 students. Find the mean.
Height in cms: 140-145 145-150 150-155 155-160 160-165

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 No. of students: 7 10 15 13 5
[ Answer: 152.4 cms ]
16. Find the arithmetic mean:
Height in cms: 148-152 152-156 156-160 160-164 164-168 168-172 172-176
No. of persons: 3 5 9 15 10 6 2

17. The following data represents the distribution of balance amounts in bank accounts at the end
of March 2002. Find the average balance amount.
500- 600- 700- 800- 900- 1000- 1100- 1200-
Amount in Rs.:
599 699 799 899 999 1099 1199 1299
No. of accounts: 25 42 55 70 62 50 35 11

18. Find the average tax for the following data.

Tax in Rs.: 100-399 400-699 700-999 1000-1299 1300-1599 1600-1899
No. of Employees: 12 20 25 35 15 8

19. Find the arithmetic mean for the following data.

No. of units
50-99 100-149 150-199 200-249 250-299 300-349 350-399
produced:
No. of factories: 4 9 11 15 12 8 2
20. The following data represents salary of employees in an office. Find the average salary.
Salary in Rs.: No. of Employees.
900 – 1000 4
1000 – 1200 11
1200 – 1400 19
1400 – 1600 22
1600 – 1800 18
1800 – 1900 9
1900 – 2000 3
21. If the mean for the following data is Rs.56/-, find the missing frequency.
Wages in Rs.: 30-40 40-50 50-60 60-70 70-80 80-90
No. of persons: 10 20 40 … 8 6
22. If the average marks of students are 26.75, find the number of students belonging to the class
interval 10 – 20.
Marks: 0 - 10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50
No. of students: 3 … 15 10 5
23. If the average wages of workers are Rs.73.25, find the number of workers with wage between
Rs.80 and Rs.100.
Wages in Rs.: 20-40 40-60 60-80 80-100 100-120 120-140
No. of persons: 10 18 22 … 11 5
COMBINED ARITHMETIC MEAN

If n1 and n2 are the number of observations of two groups with means x1 and x2 then their
combined arithmetic mean, denoted by x12 is given by

n1 x1 + n2 x2
x12 =
n1 + n2
This can be extended to three groups also as

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 n1 x 1 + n2 x 2 + n3 x 3
x 123 =
n1 + n2 + n3
PROBLEMS:
1. The average marks of a group of 100 students in Accountancy are 60 and for another group of 50
students, the average marks are 90. Find the average marks of the combined group of 150 students. [
70 marks ]
2. The average daily wages for 90 workers in a factory is Rs.59/-, the average wages for 50 male workers out
of them is Rs.63/-. Find the average wages for the remaining female workers. [ Rs.54/- ]
3. The average marks of a class of students are 76. The average marks of boys and girls are 69 and 83
respectively. If there are 100 boys in the class find the number of girls in the class. [ No. of girls = 100 ]
4. The mean daily wages of a group of employees are Rs.180/- The mean daily wages of men and women are
Rs.186/- and Rs.175/- respectively. Find the ratio of men and women in the group. [ 5 : 6 ]
5. If the average marks in a certain test of boys and girls in a class are 80 and 85 respectively and if the
average marks for the entire class are 83.75, find the percentage of boys in the class. [ 25% ]
6. The mean weight of a group of 70 workers is 60 kgs. The second group consists of 80 workers with
average weight 57 kgs and there are 50 workers in the third group with average weight 62 kgs. Find the
average weight of the combined group of 200 workers. [ 59.3 kgs ]
7. The mean marks of 100 boys in a class are 45. The mean marks of the entire class of 150 students are 50.
Find the mean marks of the remaining group of girls. [ 60 ]
8. There are three groups in a class of 100 students. The first contains 25 students with average pocket money
Rs.62/-, the second group consists of 50 students with average pocket money Rs.55/-. Find the average
pocket money of the students from the third group if the average for the entire class is Rs.58/-. [ Rs.60/- ]
9. The average monthly salary of employees of a firm is Rs.5200/-. The average salaries of gents and ladies
from the firm are Rs.6000/- and Rs.4800/- . Find the percentage of gents and ladies in the firm. [ 1 : 2 ]
10. A garment factory makes both men’s and women’s shirts. The average profit of the factory is 8% of sales.
Average profit on men’s shirt is 10%. Women’s shirts form 60% of the total sales. What is the average
profit on sales of women’s shirts? [ 6.67% ]