Statistics

PART 3
By
O.A Esan
Walter Sisulu University
Measure of Central Tendency

 The measure of central tendency are the average of the frequency

distribution.
 These averages are the mean, mode and median
 Example:
 Baseball players scored the following:10,12,12, 18, 7,3. find the mean
 Solution
 Mean=10+12+12+18+7+3/6
 mean = 62/6 =10.3
Mean

 The mean of a set of numbers or values x1, x2, x3,….xn is the average of the
numbers.
 The mean is denoted by
Example

 Find the mean of the following set of numbers

i) 0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 4
ii) 3, 9, 11, 28, 37, 20
iii) 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 8, 8, 9
 Solution
 The mean
 ii) 3, 9, 11, 28, 37, 20
 Solution
 Mean=3+9+11+28+37+20/6
 mean=108/6=18
Calculating the mean from a frequency distribution
table

First method:
 If the value x1, x2, x3,…, xn occur with frequencies f1, f2, f3,…, fn
respectively, then the mean is given by

 Where f is the frequency, x is the class marks or midpoint and ∑ means the
sum of x.
 This method is usually used for an ungrouped data. X represents the values
(i.e., the marks or class).
 However for a grouped data, x represents the class midpoint or mid values of
each class.
Example

 In a workshop, the times taken by 120 trainee to identify a fault in a machine

are shown in table below. Find the mean

Time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
No of 2 3 5 10 15 30 25 15 10 5
Trainee
Solution

Time No. of Trainees (f) fx

1 2 2
2 3 6
3 5 15
4 10 40
5 15 75
6 30 180
7 25 175
8 15 120
9 10 90
10 5 50
∑ f = 120 ∑fx =753
 The mean = 753/120 =6,275
Second method (Assumed mean method)

 If we assume or guess that the mean is say A, and the difference between the
assumed mean, A and the class mid-point or mid-value of each xi is di(called
the deviation), then the mean is given by:

 Where di = xi – A and xi= class midpoints.

Example

 The following table shows the distribution of weekly wages earned by some
construction workers in South Africa.
Wages 40 – 49 50 – 59 60 – 69 70 – 79 80 – 89 90 – 99 100 – 109 110 - 119
No. of 4 12 18 11 7 5 2 1
workers

 Using an assumed mean of 74.50, calculate correct to the nearest Rands the
mean.
solution

 Using an assumed mean, A = 74.50, we form the table below

Wages No. of Class Deviation fd
workers (f) midpoint d = (x – A)
(x)
40 – 49 4 44.50 -30 -120
50 – 59 12 54.50 -20 -240
60 – 69 18 64.50 -10 -180
70 – 79 11 74.50 0 0
80 – 89 7 84.50 10 70
90 – 99 5 94.50 20 100
100 – 109 2 104.50 30 60
110 - 119 1 114.50 40 40
∑f = 60 ∑fd = -270
 Note that column =fd column * the d column
 The mean, = 74.50 - 4.50 = R70.00 to the nearest Rand
Mode

 Mode of a set of numbers or values (raw data)

 The mode (or the modal value) of a set of numbers is the number which
occurs most frequently.
 Example the of these numbers 3, 2, 2, 4, 3, 5, 4, 2, 4, 2, 3 is 2, since is the
most frequent occurring number
Mode of an ungrouped data

 The mode is the value with the largest frequency.

 The mode can be read directly from the frequency table.
 Note that the mode is the value, not the frequency
 Example
 This frequency table below shows the number of children in each of the 30
families. What is the mode of the data?
 No. of 0 1 2 3 4
children
No. of 3 9 11 4 2
families

Solution
 The largest frequency is 11. 11 families each had 2 children.
 Therefore, the mode of the data is 2
The mode of a grouped data

 For a grouped data, the modal class is the class with the largest frequency.
 Computing the mode of a grouped data
 The formula used is:
 Where = excess of modal frequency over frequency of the next-
lower class.
 = excess of modal frequency over frequency of the next-higher class.
 = lower class boundary of the modal class.
 C= size of the modal class interval.
Example

 The following table represents the percentage of family income allocated to

groceries per month of 60 shoppers.
Percentage Frequency
10 – 19 7
20 – 29 15
30 – 39 17
40 – 49 12
50 – 59 5
60 - 69 4
 Compute the mode for the above data.
Solution
Modal class: 30 – 39, c = 9, = 17 – 15 = 2, = = 17 – 12 = 15,
= 30
Using formula
=32.57
Median

 The median of a set of numbers or values

 The median of a set of numbers is the middle value or the arithmetic mean of
the two middle values, if they are arranges in increasing order of
magnitude.
 To find the median of a set of ‘n’ numbers x1, x2, x3,….xn
 1) Arrange the numbers in order of magnitude
 2) if n is odd value then the median is the middle item i.e., ½(n + 1)th item
or observation
 3) if n is even value then the median is the arithmetic mean of the two
middle ites, i.e., the ½(n)th and (1/2n + 1)th items or ½(n)th and the item
after it.
Example

 Find the median of the following set of numbers

 i)2, 1, 2, 3, 5
 ii)3, 7, 2, 9, 8, 11, 12
 iii) 3, 7, 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 8
Solution

 i) Re-arrange the numbers in ascending order (starting from smallest) i.e. 1,

2, 2, 3, 5.
 n=5 which is odd number, therefore the median is the ½(5 +1)th i.e. 3 rd item.
Hence, the median is 2
 ii) re-arrange the numbers in ascending order i.e. 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12
 n = 7 which is odd number, therefore the median is the ½(7+1)th i.e. 4 th item.
Hence median is 8.
Median from a frequency distribution
table (ungrouped data)
 i) Find the total frequency i.e., f or N
 ii) if n is odd number, then the median is the ½(f+1)th item or observation.
 For example, if f =19, then the median is the ½(19 + 1)th item or observation.
i.e., the 10th item
 Remember that the median is the value not the frequency. That of grouped
frequency distribution table, we can find the median class.
Example

 The frequency table below gives the age distribution of students who offered
mathematics in a certain school.
Ages 17 18 19 20 21
No. of 3 10 8 5 2
students

i) how many students offered mathematics?

ii) What is the median age?
Solution

 The number of students = 3 + 10 + 8 + 5 + 2 = 28

 To find the median.
 First find the total frequency = 28, which is even.
 Half the total frequency ½(28) = 14.
 The median is the mean of the 14th and 15th observations.
 Now, add the frequencies, starting from 3, until you get the age
corresponding to the 14th and 15th observation.
 From the table 14th observation is 19 and 15th observation is 19. therefore, the
median age is ½(19 + 19) = 19years