Measures of Central

Tendencies
Week 11

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 Definitions
• Mean: or average
The sum of a set of data divided by the number of data.
(Do not round your answer unless directed to do so.)
• Median: The middle value, or the mean of the middle
two values, when the data is arranged in numerical
order.
• Mode: The value (number) that appears the most often.
It is possible to have more than one mode
(bimodal), and it is possible to have no mode. If there is
no mode, write "no mode", do not write zero (0)
• Range: the difference of the highest and lowest value
• Midrange: sum of highest and lowest values, divided by
two.
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 MEAN
• Advantages:
• Most popular measure in fields such
as business, engineering and computer
science.
• It is unique - there is only one answer.
• Useful when comparing sets of data.
Disadvantages:
• Affected by extreme values (outliers)

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 Mean formula:

X 
x1  x 2  x3  x 4  ....  x n

X
n n

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 MEDIAN
• Advantages:
• Extreme values (outliers) do not affect
the median as strongly as they do the
mean.
• Useful when comparing sets of data.
• It is unique - there is only one answer.

Disadvantages:
• Not as popular as mean.
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 MODE
• Advantages
– Extreme values (outliers) do not affect the mode.
– Can be used for non-numerical data; colors, ect.
• Disadvantages
– Not as popular as mean and median
– Not necessarily unique - may be more than one
answer
– When no values repeat in the data set, the mode is
every value and is useless.
– When there is more than one mode, it is difficult to
interpret and/or compare.
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 What happens if….
• If we replace the lowest grade with a zero:

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 What will happen to the measures of central tendency if we add the same
amount to all data values, or multiply each data value by the same amount?

Data Mean Mode Median

Original Data
6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 14, 15, 16, 20 12.2 14 13
Set:

Add 3 to each
9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 17, 18, 19, 23 15.2 17 16
data value

Multiply 2 times
each data 12, 14, 16, 20, 24, 28, 28, 30, 32, 40
24.4 28 26
value

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 Distribution of data:
a) Skewed left, negatively skewed
median>mean

b) Skewed right, positively skewed

mean>median

c) Symmetric, mean=median=mode

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Example #1

Find the mean, median, mode, range, and midrange for the following data:
5, 15, 10, 15, 5, 10, 10, 20, 25, 15. (You will need to organize the data.)
5, 5, 10, 10, 10, 15, 15, 15, 20, 25
Mean:

Median: 5, 5, 10, 10, 10, 15, 15, 15, 20, 25

Listing the data in order is the easiest way to find the median.
The numbers 10 and 15 both fall in the middle.
Average these two numbers to get the median: (10+15)/2 = 12.5

Mode: Two numbers appear most often: 10 and 15.

There are three 10's and three 15's.
In this example there are two answers for the mode.

Range: The difference of highest & lowest; 25 – 5 =20

Midrange: Average of highest & lowest; (5+25)/2 = 15

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EX. 2 -
On his first 5 biology tests, Bob received the following scores: 72, 86, 92, 63, and 77.
What test score must Bob earn on his sixth test so that his average (mean score) for all
six tests will be exactly 80? Show how you arrived at your answer.

Possible solution method:

Set up an equation to represent the situation.
Remember to use all 6 test scores:

72 + 86 + 92 + 63 + 77 + x = 80
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EX. 3 – Grouped Data:

On a statistics examination, 7 students received scores of 95, 9 students received

90, 6 students received 85, 4 students received 80, there was one 75, 3 students
with a 70, and one student received 65. The mean score on this examination was:
(nearest 10th)

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EX. 4 – Grouped Data: Using this frequency table of test scores
Find the Mean, Median, Mode, Range, and Midrange

Grade Frequency
100 1
95 3
90 5
85 8
80 7
 Box and Whisker Plots
• Determine the five key values
– (5 number summary)
1)Minimum value
2)Maximum value
3)Median (2nd Quartile) or Q2
4)1st Quartile – median of values less than Q2
5)3rd Quartile - median of values greater than
Q2
- Interquartile range = Q3-Q1
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Ex. Construct a box-and-whisker plot for the following data:
The data: Math test scores 80, 75, 90, 95, 65, 65, 80, 85, 70, 100
1) Write the data in numerical order. Find the five key values.
median (2nd quartile) = 80
first quartile = 70
third quartile = 90
minimum = 65
maximum = 100

2) Create a number line and plot values below it

3) Draw a box with ends through the points for

the first and third quartiles. Then draw a vertical
line through the box at the median point. Now,
draw the whiskers (or lines) from each end of
the box to these minimum and maximum values.

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* Outlier – one value that is an extreme value:

You may see a box-and-whisker plot,

like the one below, which contains an asterisk.

* 10 is an extreme value and is placed on

the graph but not part of the box or whisker

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 25% of data
25% of data 25% of data

25% of data
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