MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY ‘The measures of central tendency, also known as measures of central location or averages, use a single value to describe the “centre” of data and are considered as typical values of the dataset. There are three such averages ~ the mean, the median, and the mode. ‘The Mean “The most widely used measure of central tendency is the arithmetic mean, or simply the ‘mean, Iti the sum ofall the numbers divided by the total number of observations in the dataset. Calculating the mean from raw (ungrouped) data Let a set of n observations be represented by x,.%,..5%, The mean of the observations, cenoted by ¥, may be defined by where 5 means “the sum of *. Note: The symbol)" x, is defined as Example “The following set of data isthe ages of five selected students ina class. 25 18 15 7 30 Find the mean age of the students Page 40 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerFirstly, 25+ 18415+27+30=115 Hence, the mean age is 23 a us 5 Arithmetic mean from ungrouped frequency table Given an ungrouped frequency table of observations ,,%;,.%, and corresponding frequencies f,, fas» fy» the mean is given by Das Le ample Calculate the mean of the following ungrouped frequency distrib eee i i 2 3 q 3 x 10 20 30 40 50 i 2 5 6 4 3 Sin = (2x10) +++-+(3%50)= 610 And Page dl of 6 Scanned with CamScannerSp-215164449=20 ‘Therefore, the mean is 610 FaGe =o 2-30: 7 ‘The Arithmetic Mean From Grouped Frequency Table To calculate the mean from a grouped frequency table, first obtain the midpoint of each class interval, and using these values as if they were the original observations.) 34" corresponding to the frequencies Ji, fis, apply the formula Sm ve ‘This is known as the conventional method. :xamp! ‘The following table shows the annual income of 50 employees. Class Frequency, f 120-139 7 140-159 4 160-179 10 180-199 14 200-219 12 220 -239 6 240 -259 260-279 1 ‘Compute the mean annual income of the employees. Page 42 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerSolution 120-139 9S CC SSC«d 140 159 149.5 4 598.0 160-179 169.5 10 1695.0 180-199, 189.5 “4 2653.0 200-219 209.5 12 2514.0 220-239 229.5 6 1377.0 240-259 249.5 2 499.0 260-279 269.5 1 269.5 Total 50 9735.0 ‘The mean annual income is iz ie 2X 97S 947 rs 50 ‘The mean computed from grouped data are called the weighted mean, The class frequencies the weights for the various midpoints. ‘Another way of computing the mean from grouped data is by the use of the coding method, To use this method, all class intervals must be of equal size. Steps: a) Obtain the class midpoints. b) Create a new column after the frequency column and give ita heading d. ¢) Choose the class that is in the middle of the distribution, but if there is no class exactly in the middle choose one of the two middle classes (preferably the class the higher frequency). Under the column, d, code this with zero, Page 43 of 61 Scanned with CamScanner4) Give a code of | to the class immediately below the class coded zero. The next higher class is given a code of 2, the next higher one, a code of 3. Continue until the last class. €) Give a code of -I to the class immediately above the class coded zero. The next lower class is given a code of -2, the next lower one, a code of -3. Continue until the topmost class is reached. f) Create another column, fd, where you put in the values of the product of the frequencies and the codes, d. g) Add the values in the fd column. h) Divide the result in step g with the total frequency and multiply the result with the class size, w, i) Add the result in step h to the midpoint of the class coded zero and obtain the final answer. This midpoint is called the assumed mean (AM). In summary, Example Computing the mean using coding method: “Scores Midpoint (XJ Frequency) Code (a) fd w20- et”~—“—s—SSSC“(‘(C‘ OU!!! DT 21-25 23 1 2 “4 26-30 28 8 -l 8 31-35 33 12 0 0 36-40 38 10 1 10 41-45 43 6 2 12 46-50 48 4 3 12 Total 50 0 3 cee Page 44 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerApplying the formula gives Properties of the mean 1, The mean is unique for any set of (numerical) data. 2. The mean takes into account every value or score in the data. Therefore, itis sensitive to extreme values, which are called outliers. ‘Means of subsets can be combined to determine the mean of the complete dataset, Let 1, be the size of group | with mean ¥,, n,the size of group 2 with mean X,and so forth to mean ¥,, then the combined mean of the group means is nthe size of group k defined as ‘Where, _¥ =the combined (grand) mean; the ith group mean; the ith group size. Example ‘The following table contains the mean ages of students in some departments. Page 45 of 6 Scanned with CamScanneriF Students Statistics a 160 Mathematics 18 105 Physies. 25 154 Chemistry. 19 im Compute the mean age of students in the faculty. Solution (160321) (1S 18) + (054% 25) + (71x19) _ 12349 160+10541544171 590. If the mean is subtracted from each individual score and the differences are summed, the result is zero, 5, Ifthe same value is added to or subtracted from every number ina dataset, the mean goes up or goes down by the value of the number. Teach score is multiplied or divided by the same value, the mean inereases or decreases ne value. by the al work, such as hypothesis testing. 7, Itlends itself to further stati 8. It is applicable to quantitative data only. Page 46 of 61 Scanned with CamScanner‘The Harmonic Mean of n numbers 2929 ‘The harmonic mean, denoted by by the sum of the reciprocals of the 1 numbers. That is, Example Calculate the harmonic mean for the data: 25, 18, 15, 27 and 30. Solution 5 ——=215 T,1, 1,1 02326 ees 25°18 15 27 30 Definition: The harmonic mean for grouped data is defined as ind the harmonic mean of the annual income example. Scanned with CamScanner ; is the number m dividedSolution 6,2 3495 ' 2095 9.2608 Hone, 50 ty waa "15 Note mean is most frequently used in averaging speeds for various distances, ©The harmoni Iris also used in finding the average east of some commodity, when the sume cost is incurred each time several commodities are n Exercises 1. Aman drives from Acera to Kumasi at an average speed of 90km per hour and returns to Accra along the same route at an average speed of 30km per hour, Find from Ku the average speed for the entire trip. per hour and the remaining 200km at a 2, Aman drives the first 210km at a speed of 70km speed of 100km per hour, What is the average speed forthe entire journey? penters 1 and 2 spend 10 days and 5 days respectively to make I table, If 50 tables 3. were made by the fist carpenter and 30 tables by the second carpenter what is the average time spent om their products? ‘The Geometrie Mean ‘The geometric mean, i the nf root of the product of numbers. That is, adeno, ell] rt Page 48 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerExample ‘The geometric mean for the data: 25, 18, 15, 27, 30 is 25x18 152730 = 22.26 Definition: The geometric mean of grouped data is defined as Where, n= f. Example The following data are the wages of employees. “Daily wages ("000 GHC) No. of Employees x i 30 7 60 70 80 90 100 110 Ruawan Find the geometric mean of the data. Solution : n=Df=B Hence, 4950! x60" x...x110? = 83.12 Page 49 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerTherefore, antilog(log X,)=10""* OR eet) For grouped data, And X,, =antilog(log The geometric mean is used for data for which the ratio of consecutive terms remains approximately constant. That is, in a geometric sequence the most meaningful average is the geometric mean. Also, if some values are very large in magnitude and others are small, then the geometric mean is a better average. Again, the geometric mean is used for rates of change, economic index numbers, and population size over consecutive time periods, etc. Page 50 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerExercises 1. Use the logarithm approach to calculate the geometric mean for the previous examples. 2. Consider the following data, Number of eggs laid by chicken in a month Month No. ofeges H 20 2 50 3 110 4 260 Find the mean number of eggs laid in a month. The Quadratic Mean The quadratic mean, X,, is the square root of the mean of the squares of numbers. That Example The quadratic mean for the data: 25, 18, 15, 27, 30 is x, 2: fies 927 a3 23.7 Page St of 6 Scanned with CamScannerDefinition: The quadratic mean of grouped data is defined as Example With reference to the wages example, calculate the quadratic mean. a x t a fe 50 T 2500 2500 60 2 3600 7200 70 4 4900 19600 80 3 6400 19200 90 6 8100 48600 100 5 1000 50000 110 2 2100 24200 Therefore, Relationships among the Means “The various formulas of the mean values can be combined in one general formula, usually referred to as the power mean and denoted by X, . For ungrouped data, Page 52 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerwhere kis the power of the mean, For grouped data, It can be shown that, &=-1, we obtain the harmonic mean, X, we obtain the geometric mean, X, . ks k=1, we obtain the arithmetic mean, X ; k=2, we obtain the quadratic mean, ‘Thus, different power means computed from the same dataset have different numerical values. Their values increase in correspondences with the power. Consequently, we obtain a chain of inequalities Hak ated etc. The rule is “the larger the degree of the power, the larger the mean value”. Exercise Summarise the various means for the data: 25, 18, 15, 27, 30. State the relationship among the means. Page $3 of 61 Scanned with CamScanner‘The Median Another measure of central tendency is the median. The median is the value of the observation that divides the data into two equal parts after the observations have been arranged the value of the middle observation in an ordered in order of magnitude. Thus, the med sample. Computing the median from ungrouped data for raw data consisting of m observations, arrange the data in order To obtain the me of size, then © If'mis odd, take the value of the observation at the (Se) position; * Ifnis even, take the mean of the values of the observations at the (g)4 and (G4) positions. Example Find the median for the data: 2° «18 1S) 2730. Arrange the data in ascending order: 15, 18, 25, 27, 30 Implies, Median: (0 observation Page $4 0f 61 Scanned with CamScannerMotion © vv absorvation os Nats half othe stants have thete ages tower than 28 years anal the other allot then have Weir aes higher than 28 yours, Benives 1 Pind the median oP the data ABALO SBR 18,615, 2. Find the median for the data below, 8 ie foi 42 5 | Computing the median from grouped data (@) By formula To obtain the median from grouped data con ing of equal class sizes, find the first interval for w ' the cumulative relative (or percentage) frequency exceeds 0,50 (or 50% Then, compute the median using Median Example Find the median value for the income data, Scanned with CamScanner~Seescinait —Chas Homans FreqnensyComtaive egw Class Timit Class Boundary Frequency Cumulative frequency sao ess 140 = 159 139.5 = 159.5 4 3 160-179 159.5 = 179.5 10 1s 180 = 199 179.5 - 199.5 4 2 200-219 199.3 - 219.5 v a 220-239 © 219.5-239.5 6 a7 240-259 239.5 - 259.5 2 49 260-279 279.5 1 50 From the table, Implies, Now, there is no 25 in the cumulative frequency column So we select the smallest value that is greater than 25. This value is 29, hich belongs to the 180 ~ 199 class. The median class therefore is 180-199. Hence, 193.79 79.5 (258 )20 =179.5 414.29 = ;ve an annual income less than GHC193,790 and the other ‘That is, half of the employees rece! half — more than that. Page $6 of 61 Scanned with CamScanner(0) Graphical method © The median from Ogive “To determine the median from ogive, start at the point 50% (of she total frequency) on the vertical axi i vertical axis move horizontally to the ogive and then drop a vertical line tothe horizontal axis. The value on the horizontal axis is approximately the median, Hlustration: %CF 100% Median Class Boundaries © The median from histogram inthe median class. Draw a diagonal from mine the median from histogram, obtait To dete n class. Compute the lower left comer tothe upper right comer ofthe Bar representing the media Y, which is defined as ile a Ch sm ¥, tocut the diagonal inthe median Par drop a line perpendicular Draw a horizontal line fror x-axis is approximately the median. From the point of intersection tothe x-axis. The value on the: Example: Page 87 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerProperties of the m © The median is unique. © Itisnot influenced by extreme values. © The median cannot be found for nominal data. ¢ Itisacentral value. ‘The Mode “The mode is defined as the number that occurs most frequently in a dataset. Example, the mode of the data: 4, 8, 4, 6, 5, 8, 8, 15, 6, 15188. ‘Types of mode No mode: When all observations appear the same number of times. © Unimodal: A set of data with a single mode, Page $8 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerMulti-modal: A set of observations that has more than one mode is said to be multix modal. A dataset with two modes is said to be bi-modal and a dataset that has three modes tri-modal. Mode for grouped data (@) Crude mode: A crude mode is the midpoint of the modal class. (b) By formula: ‘The mode for a grouped frequency distribution is defined as vate eS =a)" Alternatively, Mode = L+| —#=1 1 2 Fama (Fit Sa). where, _L= the lower boundary of the modal class; Joos = the frequency of the modal class; “f= the frequency of the class before the modal class; “Joa the frequency of the class after the modal class; w = the width of the class interval. Example Find the modal value for the income data. Soluti We find that the modal class is 180 ~ 199. Hence, Page 59 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerMode =179.5+ J20-tr0se13an- 19a 14-10)+(1 (©) Graphical method ‘© From the frequency curve ‘The mode of a frequency curve is that value on the horizontal axis at which the height of the curve is greatest. «From the histogram 20 2s 20 B35 E 10 y — o Todi 0% Cass Boundaries Some characteristics of the mode ‘There can be more than one mode for a dataset. It is not influenced by extreme values. 10 determine the modes of the complete dataset. Modes of subsets cannot be combined t and quantitative data. The mode can be found for both qualit Page 60 of 61 Scanned with CamScannerUsing Averages ‘Types of data and averages “Type of Data Average(s) “Nominal Mode Ordinal Median, Mode Continuous Mean, Median, Mode Discrete Mean, Median, Mode _ Page 61 of 61 Scanned with CamScanner