MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

MEAN
MEDIAN
MODE
 WEIGHTED MEAN
 In Statistics it is often necessary to find the sum of a set of numbers. The traditional
symbol used to indicate the summation is the Greek letter sigma, Σ. Thus, the notation Σx,
called summation notation, denotes the sum of all numbers in a given set.

 
MEAN
The mean of n numbers is the sum of the numbers divided by n.
DEFINITION
Mean =

Statistician often collect data from small portions of a large group in order to determine
information about the group. In such situations the entire group under consideration is
known as the population, and any set of the population is called a sample. It is traditional
to denote the mean of a sample by x (which is read as “x bar”) and to denote the mean
of a population by the Greek letter μ (lowercase mu).
 Find the Mean:
Six friends in a biology class of 20 students received test grades of
EXAMPLE 92, 84, 65, 76, 88, and 90
Find the mean of these test grades.

 
The six friends are a sample the population of 20 students. Use x to represent the mean.
SOLUTION X = = = = 82.5

The mean of these test grades is 82.5.

A doctor ordered 4 separated blood tests to measure a patient’s total blood cholesterol
levels. The test results were
245, 235, 220, and 210
TEST No. 1
Find the mean of the blood cholesterol levels.
 Another type of average is the median. Essentially, the median is the middle number or
the mean of the two middle numbers in a list of numbers that have been arranged in
numerical order from the smallest to largest or largest to smallest. Any list of numbers
that is arranged in numerical order from smallest to largest or largest to smallest is a
ranked list.

MEDIAN
DEFINITION The mean of a ranked list of n numbers is:

 The middle number if n is odd.

 The mean of the two middle numbers if n is even.
 Find the Median:
Find the median of the data in the following lists.
a) 4, 8, 1, 14, 9, 21, 12
EXAMPLE
b) 46, 23, 92, 89, 77, 108

a) The list 4, 8, 1, 14, 9, 21, 12 contains 7 numbers. The median of a list with an odd
number of entries is found by ranking the numbers and finding the middle number. Ranking
the numbers from smallest to largest gives
1, 4, 8, 9, 12, 12, 21
The middle number is 9. Thus, the median is 9.
SOLUTION b) The list 46, 23, 92, 89, 77, 108 contains 6 numbers. The median of a list of data with an
even number of entries is found by ranking the numbers and computing the mean of the two
middle numbers. Ranking the numbers from smallest to largest gives
23, 46, 77, 89, 92, 108
The two middle numbers are 77 and 89. The mean of 77 and 89 is 83.
Thus, 83 is the median of the data.

Find the median of the data in the following lists.

1) 14, 27, 3, 82, 64, 34, 8, 51
TEST No. 2 2) 21.3, 37.4, 11.6, 82.5, 17.2
3) The median of the ranklist 3, 4, 7, 11, 17, 29, 37 is 11.
If the maximum value if 37 is increased to 55, what effect will this have
on the median?
 A third type of average is the mode.

MODE
The MODE of a list of numbers is the number that occurs most frequently.

DEFINITION

Some list of numbers do not have a mode. For instance. For instance, in the list 1, 6, 8,
10, 32, 15, 49, each number occurs exactly once. Because no number occurs more than
the other numbers, there is no mode.

A list of numerical data can have more than one mode. For instance, in the list 4, 2, 6, 7,
9, 2, 4, 9, 8, 9, 7, the number 2 occurs three times and the number 9 occurs three
times. Each of the other numbers occurs less than three times. Thus 2 and 9 are both
modes for the data.
 Find a mode:

EXAMPLE Find the mode of the data in the following lists.

a) 15, 18, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, 21
b) 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 4, 7, 23

a) In the list, 15, 18, 21, 16, 15, 14, 15, 21, the number 15 occurs more often than the
SOLUTION other numbers. Thus, 15 is the mode.
b) Each number in the list 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, 4, 7, 23 occurs only once. Because no number
occurs more often than the others, there is no mode.

Find the mode of the data in the following lists.

1) 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 8
TEST No. 3 2) 12, 34, 12, 71, 48, 93, 71
  
THE WEIGHTED MEAN
A value called the weighted man is often used when the data values are more important than others. For
instance, many professors determine a student’s course grade from the student’s tests and the final
examination. Consider the situation in which a professor counts the final examination score as 2 tests. To
find the weighted mean of the student’s scores, the professor first assigns a weight to each score. In this
case the professor could assign each of the scores a weight of 1 and the final exam score a weight of 2. a
student with test scores of 65, 70 and 75 and a final examination score of 90 has a weighted mean of

= = 78

Note that the numerator of the weighted mean above is the sum of the products of each test score and its
corresponding weight. The number 5 in the denominator is the sum of all the weights (1+1+1+1+1 = 5). The
procedure for finding the weighted can be generalized as follows:

 
THE WEIGHTED MEAN
DEFINITION The weighted mean of n numbers x1. x2, x3,…, xn with the respective assigned weights w1, w2, w3 ,…, wn is
Weighted Mean =
Where is the sum of the products formed by multiplying each number by its assigned weight, and is the
sum of all the weights.
 Many colleges use the 4-point grading system;
A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0

A student’s grade point average is calculated as a weighted mean, where the student’s grade in each course is given a
weight equal to the number of units that course is worth. use this 4-point grading system in the example below.

Find a weighted mean  

The table below shows Dillion’s first semester grades. SOLUTION:
Use the weighted men formula to find Dillion’s GPA for the first The B is worth 3 points, with a weight of 4; tha A is
semester. worth 4 points with a weight of 3; the D is worth 1
point, with a weight of 3; and the C is worth 2 points,
with a weight of 4. The sum of all the weigths is 4 + 3 +
3 + 4, or 14.

Weighted M dean = = =2.5

Conclusion: Dillion’s GPA for the first semester is 2.5.

MEASURES OF DISPERSION

RANGE
STANDARD DEVIATION
VARIANCE
 THE RANGE
In the preceding section, we introduced three types of average values for a data – the mean, the median and the
mode. Some characteristics of a set of data may not be evident from an examination of average. For instance,
consider a soft-drink dispensing machine that should dispense 8 ounce of your selection into a cup. The table
below shows a data for wo of these machines.

SODA DISPENSED (ounces) The mean data value for each machine is 8 oz. however, look at the
variation in the data values for Machine 1. The quantiyy of soda
Machine 1 Machine 2
dispensed is very inconsistent- in some cases the soda overflows the
9.52 8.01 cup, and in other cases too little soda is dispensed. The machine
6.41 7.99 obviously needs some adjustment. The machine 2, on the other hand,
10.07 7.95
5.85 8.03 is working just fine. The quantity dispersed is very consistent, with little
8.15 8.02 variation.

Mean = 8.0 Mean = 8.0

This example shows that average values do not reflect the spread or
dispersion of data. To measure the spread or dispersion of data, we
must introduce statistical values known as the range and the standard
deviation.
 THE RANGE
DEFINITION The range of a set of data values is the difference between the greatest data value
and the least data value.

Find a range.
EXAMPLE Find the range of the number of ounces dispensed by machine 1 in the previous
table.

The greatest number of ounces dispensed is 10.07 and the least is 5.85. the range of
SOLUTION
the numbers of ounces dispersed is 10.07 – 5.85 = 4.22 oz.

Find the range of the numbers of ounces dispensed by Machine 2 in the same table
TEST No. 4 above.
 THE STANDARD DEVIATION
The range of a set of data is easy to compute, but it can be deceiving. The range is a measure that depends only on
the two extreme values, and as such it is very sensitive. A measure of dispersion that is less sensitive to extreme
values is the standard deviation. The standard deviation of a set of numerical data makes use of the amount by
which each individual data value deviates from the mean. These, deviations, represented by (x – x), are positive
when the data value x is greater than the mean x. The sum of all the deviations (x – x) is 0 for all sets of data. This
is shown in the table below for machine 2 data.

Machine 2: Deviations from the

Mean
x (x – x)
8.01 8.01 – 8 = 0.01 Because the sum of all the deviations of the data values from the
7.99 7.99 – 8 = -0.01 mean is always 0, we cannot use the sum of the deviations as a
7.95 7.95 – 8 = -0.05 measure of deviations as a measure of dispersion for a set of data.
8.03 8.03 – 8 = 0.03 Instead, the standard deviation uses the sum of the squares of the
8.02 8.02 – 8 = 0.02 deviations.

Sum of deviations = 0
 
STANDARD DEVIATIONS for POPUALTIONS and SAMPLES
If , , is a population of n numbers with a mean of μ, then the standard deviation of
the population is

σ = (1)

If , , is a sample of n numbers with a mean of x , then the standard deviation of the

sample is

s= (2)

Most statistical applications involve a sample rather than a population, whish is the complete set of
data values. Sample standard deviations are designated by the lowercase letter s. In those areas in
which we do work with a population, we designate the standard deviation of the population by σ,
which is the lowercase Greek letter sigma.
 PROCEDURE for COMPUTING a STANDARD DEVIATION
1. Determine the mean of n numbers.
2. For each number, calculate the deviation (differences) between the number and
the mean of the numbers.
3. Calculate the square of each deviation and find the sum of these squared
deviations.
4. If the data is a population, then divide the sum by n. If the data is a sample, the
divide the sum by n – 1.
5. Find the square root of the quotient in step 4.
 Find the standard deviation STEP 3
Calculate the square of each deviation in step
EXAMPLE The following numbers were obtained by 2, and find the sum of these squared
No. 1 sampling a population. 2, 4, 7, 12, 15 deviations.
x x-x
Find the standard deviation of the sample. 2
2 2
2 –– 8
8 == -6
-6 = 36
4
4 4
4 –– 8
8 == -4
-4 = 16
 STEP 1
7 7 – 8 = -1 =1
The mean of the numbers is 7 7 – 8 = -1
SOLUTION 12 12 – 8 = 4 = 16
X= = =8 12 12 – 8 = 4
15 15 – 8 = 7 = 49
STEP 2 15 15 – 8 = 7
For each number, calculate the deviation
between the number and the mean = 118
 
x x-x STEP 4
2 2 – 8 = -6 Because wen have a sample of n = 5 values,
divide the sum 118 by n-1, which is 4.
4 4 – 8 = -4
7 7 – 8 = -1
12 12 – 8 = 4  STEP 5
15 15 – 8 = 7 The standard deviation of the sample is s = To
the nearest hundredth, the standard deviation
is s = 5.43
TEST No. 5 A student has the following quiz scores: 5, 8, 16, 17, 18, 20.
Find the standard deviation for this population of quiz scores.
  
USE STANDARD DEVIATIONS
STEP 2
A consumer group tested a sample of 8 size-D batteries The batteries from Dependable have a standard
EXAMPLE 2 from each of 3 companies. The results of the test are deviation of
shown in the table below. According to these tests, = = 0.719 h
which company produces batteries for which the values
representing hours of constant use have the smallest
standard deviation?  
Company Hours of constant use per battery
STEP 2
EverSoBright 6.2, 6.4, 7.1, 5.9, 8.3, 5.3, 7.5, 9.3 The batteries from Beacon have a a standard
Dependable 6.8, 6.2, 7.2, 5.9, 7.0, 7.4, 7.3, 8.2 deviation of
= = 0.877 h
Beacon 6.1, 6.6, 7.3, 5.7, 7.1, 7.6, 7.1, 8.5

 
CONCLUSION:
STEP 1
The mean for each sample of batteries is 7 h.
The batteries from dependable have the smallest
SOLUTION The batteries from EverSoBright have a standard
standard deviation. According to these results, the
deviation of
Dependable company produces the most
= = 1.328 h
consistent batteries with regard to life expectancy
under constant use.
  

A consumer testing agency has tested the strengths of 3 brands of -inch rope. The
results of the tests are shown in the following table. According to the sample test
results, which company produces -inch rope for which the breaking point has the
smallest standard deviation?
TEST No. 6

Company Breaking Point of -inch rope in pounds

Trustworthy 122, 141, 151, 114, 108, 149, 125

Brand
Brand X
X 128,
128, 127,
127, 148,
148, 164,
164, 97,
97, 109,
109, 137
137
NeverSnap
NeverSnap 112,
112, 121,
121, 138,
138, 131,
131, 134,
134, 139,
139, 135
135
 THE VARIANCE
A statistic known as the variance is also used as a measure of dispersion. The variance for a
given set of data is the square of the standard deviation of the data. The following chart shows
the mathematical notations that are used to denote standard deviations and variances.

DEFINITION   NOTATIONS for STANDARD DEVIATIONS and VARIANCE

σ – is the standard deviation of a population
- is the variance of a population
s – is the standard deviation of a sample
- is the variance of a sample

EXAMPLE FIND THE VARIANCE

Find the variance for the sample given in example 1 above (slide no.16).

 
In example 1, we found s =. The variance is the square of the standard deviation. Thus the
SOLUTION variance is = = 29.5

Find the variance for the population given below:

TEST No.7 A student has the following quiz scores: 5, 8, 16, 17, 18, 20.
Find the standard deviation for this population of quiz scores.