Evolve.

Adapt.
Overcome.
CEFI is now ready.

PSYCHOLOGICAL STATISTICS

MODULE 3.
Measures of Central Tendency &
Variability
MRS. AMELIA A. JARAPA
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

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Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

Measures of central tendency represent a single value that
attempts to describe a set of data by identifying the central
position within that set of data.
As such, measures of central tendency are sometimes called
measures of central location. In other words, it is a measure that
tells us where the middle of a set of data is.
Generally, they are know as “AVERAGE”.
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
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MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

A. Mean

The Mean is the "balancing point" of a group of

numbers.

Formula:
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MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

B. Median
The Median is the middle number, after they have been put into order.
If there are an odd number of observations, there is only one middle
number.
If there are an even number of observations, there are two middle
numbers and the median is the mean of them. The median divides the
observations into equal parts.
E.g. The median of the numbers 4 6 2 9 2 is 4, since 4 is the middle
number after they have been ordered – 2 2 4 6 9
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

C. Mode
The Mode is the most frequently occurring score and is the least
measure of center.
E.g.
1. The mode of the numbers 4 6 2 9 2
is 2, since 2 occurred twice compared to the rest.
2. In the given 2 3 1 6 7 9 8
There is no mode since each number only appeared once
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Comparison between Mean and Median

The median is robust to outliers, and its value can almost always
be thought of as being typical. The median in both examples above
is 5.
The mean and the median each are different measures of the
center of a distribution. If the distribution is symmetric, then they
will be in the same place. if the distribution is skewed to the right,
then the mean will be larger than the median. If the distribution is
skewed to the left, then the mean will be smaller than the median.
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Comparison between Mean and Median

An advantage of the median over the mean, is that it is less susceptible to
the effects of outliers, and is thus more likely to be close to a "typical" value
for skewed distributions.
An advantage of the mean over the median, is that it is easier to compute,
since it depends only on the sum of the data, not the entire set of data. With
large sets of data, it is much faster to compute the mean than the median on
a computer.
Also, the mean allows one to find the total.
Example: If the mean of ten numbers is 15.7, then the total of the numbers is
157.
If the median of ten numbers is 15.7, then we cannot specify the total.
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEAN OF GROUPED DATA

𝞢𝑓𝑀𝑑
𝑁
When data is grouped in a frequency table, simply multiply
the frequency by each class midpoint and get the sum.
Following the formula above, 𝞢𝑓𝑀𝑑 is simply the sum of the
products of frequency and midpoint, while N is the total frequency.

*To be discusses during F2F meeting

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

WEIGHTED MEAN
The weighted mean is a type of mean that is calculated using the
formula below where w stands for weight, f for frequency and n for
highest expected response:

!! "! #!" "" #!# "# #⋯#!$ "$

=
"! #"" #"# #⋯#"$

*To be discusses during F2F meeting

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
Measures of variability are measures that allow you to determine
the degree of variation within a population or sample, determine how
representative a particular score is of a data set, and determine the
scope and validity of any generalizations you wish to make based on
your research observations.
The common measures of variability are:
•Range
•Variance
•Standard Deviation
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
A. Range
The range is the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a
distribution. It is calculated by subtracting the lowest score from the highest
score.
Eg. 14 40 42 47 49 51 71 81
(81 - 14) = 67
The range for this distribution would be
(81 – 14) = 67. However, as you can see, 14 is an outlier and skews this
distribution because, if it were not in the distribution, the range would be (81
– 40) = 41.
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
A. Range
The range gives you a rough guide to the variability in a data set, as
it tells you how a particular score compares to
the highest and lowest scores.
The range gives you only a limited amount of information, as data
sets which are skewed towards a low score can have the same range
as data sets which are skewed towards a high score, or those which
cluster around some central score.
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
B. Variance
Variance is the degree to which scores vary from their mean. The
variance uses every score in the data set. The variance is calculated by
getting the average of the squared deviations from the mean.

*To be discusses during F2F meeting

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
C. Standard Deviation
The standard deviation is the square root of the variance.
Unlike the variance, the standard deviation is measured in the same
units as the raw scores themselves; therefore, one cannot just use the
variance. This is what makes the standard deviation more meaningful. For
example, it would make more sense to discuss the variability of a set of IQ
scores in IQ points than in squared IQ points because they would not be
congruent with the score's meaning.

*To be discusses during F2F meeting

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
How to interpret SD?
The standard deviation measures how concentrated the data are
around the mean; the more concentrated, the smaller the standard
deviation.
Basically, a small standard deviation means that the values in a
statistical data set are close to the mean of the data set, on average, and
a large standard deviation means that the values in the data set are
farther away from the mean, on average.
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
How to interpret SD?
A small standard deviation can be a goal in certain situations where the
results are restricted, for example, in product manufacturing and quality
control. A particular type of car part that has to be 2 centimeters in
diameter to fit properly had better not have a very big standard deviation
during the manufacturing process.
A big standard deviation in this case would mean that lots of parts end
up in the trash because they don’t fit right; either that or the cars will have
problems down the road.
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
How to interpret SD?
But in situations where you just observe and record data, a large
standard deviation isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it just reflects a large
amount of variation in the group that is being studied. For example, if you
look at salaries for everyone in a certain company, including everyone from
the student intern to the CEO, the standard deviation may be very large.
On the other hand, if you narrow the group down by looking only at the
student interns, the standard deviation is smaller, because the individuals
within this group have salaries that are less variable. The second data set
isn’t better, it’s just less variable.
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
How to interpret SD?
Similar to the mean, outliers affect the standard deviation (after all, the
formula for standard deviation includes the mean). Here’s an example: the
salaries of the L.A. Lakers in the 2009–2010 season range from the highest,
$23,034,375 (Kobe Bryant) down to $959,111 (Josh Powell).
Lots of variation, to be sure! The standard deviation of the salaries for
this team turns out to be $6,567,405; it’s almost as large as the average.
However, as you may guess, if you remove Kobe Bryant’s salary from the
data set, the standard deviation decreases because the remaining salaries
are more concentrated around the mean. The standard deviation becomes
$4,671,508.
 COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

MEASURES OF VARIABILITY
How to interpret SD?
Similar to the mean, outliers affect the standard deviation (after all, the
formula for standard deviation includes the mean). Here’s an example: the
salaries of the L.A. Lakers in the 2009–2010 season range from the highest,
$23,034,375 (Kobe Bryant) down to $959,111 (Josh Powell).
Lots of variation, to be sure! The standard deviation of the salaries for
this team turns out to be $6,567,405; it’s almost as large as the average.
However, as you may guess, if you remove Kobe Bryant’s salary from the
data set, the standard deviation decreases because the remaining salaries
are more concentrated around the mean. The standard deviation becomes
$4,671,508.
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS, SCIENCES & EDUCATION
Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

Deborah J. Rumsey https://www.dummies.com/education/math/statistics/how-to-

interpret-standard-deviation-in-a-statistical-data-set/
Foster, G.C., Lane, D., Scott, D., Hebl, M., Guerra, DO, & Zimmer, H. (2018). An
introduction to psychological statistics. IRL@UMSL. Retrieved from:
https://irl.umsl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=oer

Holmes, Alexander, et. al. (2018.) Introductory Statistics. OpenStax.org.

Retrieved from: https://openstax.org/details/books/introductory-business-
statistics

References
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Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc.

End of Presentation