C9- MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

- an average
- a single value can stand for the entire group of figures
as typical of all the values in the group.
-mean, median, mode (most commonly used measures
of central tendency)
A. MEAN
 The average of a group of scores. It is the best
measure for regular distribution; it is the most
reliable, stable, least probable error, and is most
generally recognized measure of central tendency.

Computation of the Mean by Averaging(long or absolute

method)

Ex: 25, 38, 41,68, 71, 52, 64,30, 45, 35, 58

Formula: M = TX = 497 =47.91
N 11

Ex: 56 66 43 77 63 35 59 42
Formula: M = TX =55.13
N
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Table 8.1. Scores of 100 college students in a final examination
53 30 21 42 33 41 42 45 32 58
36 51 42 49 64 46 57 35 45 51
57 38 49 54 61 36 53 48 52 49
41 58 42 43 49 51 42 50 62 60
33 43 37 57 35 33 50 42 62 49
46 45 79 33 46 43 47 37 33 64
37 36 36 46 41 43 42 47 56 62
50 53 49 39 52 52 50 37 53 40
34 43 43 57 48 43 42 42 65 35
387 397 398 420 429 388 425 383 460 468
Mean= ƩX= 53+36+………35 =4,155=41.55
N 100 100
Table 8.2.Frequency Distribution of Grouped Test scores.
Class Midpoint f X, f Cumulative Cumulative
Interval (X) frequency(cf) Percentage
75-80 77 3 231 100 100
70-74 72 0 0 97 97
65-69 67 2 134 97 97
60-64 62 8 496 95 95
55-59 57 8 456 87 87
50-54 52 17 884 79 79
45-49 47 18 846 62 62
40-44 42 21 882 44 44
35-39 37 13 481 23 23
30-34 32 9 288 10 10
25-29 27 0 0 1 1
20-25 22 1 22 1 1
Total(N) 100 Ʃx,f=4720

Mean= X= Ʃx,f = 4720 = 47.2

N 100
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B. MEDIAN
It is the value that divides the rank score into halves, or
the middle value of the ranked scores.
*If the number of scores is odd, then there is only
one middle value that gives the median.
Procedure:Sort the values into ascending order.
Example 1: The following are scores of five students in
Mathematics. Find for the Median.
7,12,24,20,19 =7,12,19,20,24
*If the number of scores in the set is an even
number, then there are two middle values. In this case
the median is the average of the two these two
numbers.
Procedure:Sort the values into ascending order.

Example 2: The following are scores of four students.

9, 18, 30, 25= 9, 18, 25, 30

Median= 21.5
*But if there are more than 50 scores, arranging the scores
and finding the middle value will take time.
Table 8.2.Frequency Distribution of Grouped Test scores.
Class Midpoint f X, f Cumulative Cumulative
Interval (X) frequency(cf) Percentage
75-80 77 3 231 100 100
70-74 72 0 0 97 97
65-69 67 2 134 97 97
60-64 62 8 496 95 95
55-59 57 8 456 87 87
50-54 52 17 884 79 79
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 45-49 47 18 846 62 62
40-44 42 21 882 44 44
35-39 37 13 481 23 23
30-34 32 9 288 10 10
25-29 27 0 0 1 1
20-25 22 1 22 1 1
Total(N) 100 Ʃx,f=4720

Solve for the Median

Applying the Formula:
1. you need a column for the cumulative Frequency. This is now shown in the 5th column for the data in
Table 8.2
2.Determine n which is one-half of number of scores of examiners.
2
3.Find the class interval of the 50th score. In this case where there are 100 scores the
50th score is in the class interval of 45-49. This class interval of 45-49 becomes the
median Class. We marked lines in the table to indicate where the median class is
located for easy reference when computing the median value.
4. Find the exact limits of the median class. In this case, class 44.5- 49.5.The lower
limit then is 44.5
Summing up these steps
As indicated in the formula:
n
Mdn= lower limit + size of class interval 2 Cumulative frequency below the median class
Median class frequency of the median class

100
Mdn= 44.5 + 5 2 44__
18

= 44.5 +5(50-44)
18
=44.5 + 5(6)
18
= 46.17

C. MODE – is the easiest measure of central Tendency

to obtain.It is the score or value with the highest
frequency in the set of scores.

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