The central tendency of a distribution is a set of characteristics that researchers are interested in,

including the mean, median, and mode. The mean is the arithmetic average of a distribution of
scores, providing a rough summary of the distribution. However, it does not tell about how
spread out the scores are or how many are close to the mean. The median is the score in the
distribution that marks the 50th percentile, and researchers often use it to divide their
distribution scores into two equal groups. The mode is the least used measure of central
tendency, indicating which score in the distribution occurs most often or has the highest
frequency.

There are two different symbols used for the mean, X- and µ, to distinguish between a statistic
that applies to a sample and a parameter that applies to a population. The population mean is
represented by µ, while all samples are representative of some population and can be used as
estimates of population parameters. The mean is represented by the sample statistic, represented
by X.
Calculating central tendency in depth is straightforward, and can be done using a calculator or
statistics software program. The mean is an average, and calculating it involves adding or
summing all scores in a distribution and dividing by the number of scores. For a simple
distribution of scores, the median (P50) is even simpler. To find the median, arrange all scores in
order, then find the middle score. If there are odd numbers of scores, there will be a single score
marking the middle of the distribution. If there are even numbers, there is no single middle
score. The median is the average of the two scores in the middle of the distribution, as long as
the scores are arranged in order.

The mode is the category in the distribution with the highest number of scores or the highest
frequency. For example, if a distribution has multiple modes, it is called multimodal. For
example, the mean, median, and mode of a skewed distribution are all at the same point. The
procedures used to calculate mean, median, and mode are the same regardless of whether the
distribution is skewed or not.
The mean of a distribution can be affected by scores that are unusually large or small, called
outliers. In a skewed distribution, the mean is usually pulled in the direction of the tail, while in
a negatively skewed distribution, the mean is slightly lower than the median. In this example, the
mean (3.77) is somewhat lower than the median (4.4), while in a positively skewed distribution,
the mean is slightly higher than the median. To better understand the effects of an outlier on the
mean, two graphs show the average life expectancy at birth of people in several different
countries. The average life expectancy for all 13 countries except Uganda is 78.17 years, while
the average life expectancy for all 13 countries, including Uganda, drops to 76.21 years. The
addition of Uganda significantly drops the average life expectancy for all 13 countries combined
by almost 2 full years, making a significant difference in ranking countries by their populations'
life expectancies. The effects of outliers on the mean are more dramatic with smaller samples, as
the mean is a statistic produced by combining all members of the distribution together.