Measures

of
Central Tendency
 Measure of Central Tendency
 a single value that attempts to describe a set
of data by identifying the central position
within that set of data
 sometimes called measures of central location
 also classed as summary statistics
 Measure of Central Tendency

• Mean
• Median
• Mode
 MEDIAN
(Grouped & Ungrouped)
 Median
• The value or the score scale separates the top
half of the group from the bottom half.
• It is also the middle score when all the scores
in a distribution are ranked according to size.
• The score which has 50% of the remaining
cases above it and 50% below it.
 Median for Ungrouped scores
Steps:
a. Arrange the scores from highest to lowest.
b. Locate the median
c. Solve using the formula
 Note:

If the number of scores is an odd

number, the median is the middle
score.
Example:
Scores of 11 students in their 1st long exam in
PrEd 146.

88,81,75,95,98,88,86,72,80,90,92

Array:
72, 75, 80, 81, 86, 88, 88, 90, 92, 95, 98
 Median = 88 (6th score)

Interpretation: There are five scores less than or equal

to 88 points and there five scores greater than or
equal to 88 points.
 Note:

If the number of scores is an even number, the

median is the point halfway between the two
middle scores.
 Example:
Scores of 10 students in their 2nd long exam in
PrEd 146.

Array:
115, 118, 119, 120, 120, 124, 125, 127, 127, 128
M

INTERPRETATION:
Half of the students got 122 points and below while the
other half got 122 points and above.
 Finding the median for grouped
scores.
Steps:
1. Compute the cumulative frequencies (cf).
2. Divide N by 2 or taking the 50 percent.
3. Find the class interval for which the
cumulative frequency is just less than the
required number of cases.
4. Determine the frequency of the median class.
5. Solve using the formula.
Where:
Md = median
L = exact lower limit of interval containing the
Median
F = sum of frequencies below L
f = frequency of interval containing the
Median
N = number of cases
i = interval
Students’ scores in Math 11 during midterm
exam
Scores f <cf C.B.
120 – 122 2 40
117 – 119 2 38
114 – 116 2 36
111 – 113 4 34
108 – 110 5 30
105 – 107 9 25 104.5 – 107.5
102 – 104 6 16
99 – 101 3 10
96 – 98 4 7
93 – 95 2 3
90 – 92 1 1
N = 40
Given: L = 104.5
F = 16
f=9
N = 40
i =3

106
INTERPRETATION:
Half of the students got 106 points and below while the
other half got 106 points and above.
 Characteristics of the Median
• Extreme scores do not affect the size of the
median.

• The value of the median is determined

entirely by middle scores when they are
arranged in order.
 Solve the following
1. The number of students among 4th year
sections in VSULHS are 45, 55, 58, 62, 57, and
60. What is the median class size?
2. Calculate median of the given distribution on final test
scores in Physics obtained by 100 4th year students.

Test scores Frequency (f)

95-99 3
90-94 6
85-89 19
80-84 24
75-79 18
70-74 12
65-69 8
60-64 5
55-59 3
50-54 2
 Measure of Central Tendency

• Mean
• Median
• Mode
 Mean
(Grouped &Ungrouped)
 TERMS

• MEAN
– Represented by M or
– Used to describe a set of data as to
what point the item values or scores
tend to cluster or concentrate.
– Affected by extreme values
• Ungrouped data
– Data which are raw and unorganized
• Grouped data
– Organized data such that in a table like
in a frequency distribution table.
 Mean for ungrouped data
• Sum of the item values divided by the number
of items
• Also called as the simple average of scores.
Can be written mathematically as,

Where, is the sum of the item values

n is the number of items
 Example
• The grades in Algebra of 10 students are 82,
85, 79, 78, 89, 87, 88, 89, 75, and 77. What is
their mean grade?
Solution:

INTERPRETATION:
Most of the students’ scores are close
to 83 points.
 Mean for grouped data

• The elements in a set of data may be

arranged and grouped resulting in a
frequency distribution table.
Where, f = frequency of the class intervals
x = midpoint of the interval
 Example
• Calculate the mean grade of 50 students in
Physics.
Interval Frequency
90-94 7
85-89 13
80-84 16
75-79 8
70-74 6
 Solution
Interval Frequency Midpoint fx
(f) (x)
90-94 7
92 644
85-89 13
87 1131
80-84 16
75-79 8 82 1312
70-74 6 77 616
50 72 432

= 4135
 INTERPRETATION:
Most of the students’ scores are close to 83 points.
 Solve the following
1. The number of students in 6 4th year
sections are 45, 55, 58, 62, 57, and 60. What
is the average class size in the 4th year?
2. Calculate the mean of the given distribution on final test
scores in Physics obtained by 100 4th year students.

Test scores Frequency (f)

95-99 3
90-94 6
85-89 19
80-84 24
75-79 18
70-74 12
65-69 8
60-64 5
55-59 3
50-54 2
 Measure of Central Tendency

• Mean
• Median
• Mode
 MODE
(Grouped & Ungrouped)
 Mode
• Denoted by Mo
• Value that occurs the most frequent in the
given data set.
• Most easily obtained measures of central
tendency.
• Score that occurs more times than any
other scores.
 UNGROUPED DATA
The score in a set of scores that occurs most
frequently.

Example:
In the set of scores ( 3,5,5,7,8,8,8,10) the mode is
8 because it occurs more often than any other
score.
 Given these ungrouped scores, find the mode.

Raw scores:

96 97 93 90 95 91 92 98 88

97 90 90 91 94 96 90 90 87

Here, the value 90 occurs five times, more

frequently than any other value. Hence, the
mode is 90.
 GROUPED DATA
• Mode is taken at the midpoint of the class
interval with the largest or highest
frequency.

Formula:

𝑀𝑜= 𝐿𝐵 +(𝑖)
( 𝑓 𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓 1
2 𝑓 𝑚𝑜 − 𝑓 1 − 𝑓 2 )
Where:
Lmo = Lower class boundary of the modal
class
C = Class size
fmo = frequency of the modal class
f1 = frequency of the class one step
lower than the modal class
f2 = frequency of the class one step
higher than the modal class
 Class
Scores f
boundaries
40-44 4
45-49 5
50-54 8 𝒇𝟏
55-59 10 𝒇 𝒎𝒐 54.5-59.5
60-64 7 𝒇𝟐
65-69 6
70-74 5
 INTERPRETATION:
It is estimated that about 22%(10 out of 45) of the observations
are equal to 57 pts. (Majority of the students get the score of 57
pts.)
 Conventional Use of Mode

 If all of the scores in a group has the same

frequency, it is customary to say that the group
of scores has no mode.(0.5,0.5,1.6,1.6,3.9,3.9)
 When two adjacent scores have the same
frequency and this common frequency is greater
than that for any other score, the mode is the
average of the two adjacent scores. Thus, the
mode of the group of scores(0,1,2,2,2,3,3,3,4) is
2.5.
Conventional Use of Mode

 If in a group of scores two non-adjacent

scores have the same frequency and this
common frequency is greater than that for
any other score, two modes exist. In the
group of scores
(10,11,11,11,12,13,14,14,14,17),both 11 and
14 are modes; the group of score is said to
be bimodal.
 Properties of Mode
Determined by the frequency and not by the
value of the observations.
It cannot be manipulated algebraically and hence
modes of subgroups cannot be combined like the
mean.
Can be defined in both qualitative and
quantitative data.
Can be computed with open-ended intervals
provided the modal class is not open-ended.
 Solve the following
1. The number of students among 4th year
sections in VSULHS are 45, 55, 58, 62, 57, and
60. What is the modal class size?
2. Calculate mode of the given distribution on final test
scores in Physics obtained by 100 4th year students.

Test scores Frequency (f)

95-99 3
90-94 6
85-89 19
80-84 24
75-79 18
70-74 12
65-69 8
60-64 5
55-59 3
50-54 2