OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

MEASURE
TENDENCY
2.0 MEASURE OF CENTRAL
Measure of central tendency or an average refers to the value, which is used to represnt
an entire series. This property of concentration of the value around a central value
lue is
is known
known
as central tendency. The central value around which there is a concentration is called the
measure of central tendency.
By calculating the measure of central tendency, we can find a single value to represent
the whole data. It also help us to compare the value of two or more groups,
There are some important definitions of 'average' as follows:
i) Clark define 'average' as "Average is an attempt to find one single figure to describe
whole of figure".
ii) A.E. Waugh observed that "an average is a single value selected
from a group of
values to represent them in some way- a value which is supposed to stand for whole
group, of which it is a part, as typical of all the values in the group".
iii) Leabo defines 'average' as the average is sometinmes described
as a number which is
typical of the whole group.
iv) According to Ya-Lun-Chou "An average is a typical value
which is employed to
represent all the individual values in a series or of a variable"
v) Lawrence J. Kaplan has defined average as one or the most widely
used set of sum-
mary figure.
vi) Rowley shows average as statistical cOnstant wnicn neipS
to understand
cance of the whole in a single effort. the sionifi-

2.1 OBJECTIVE OF MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENO

u
i) To obtain a single value that describe the characteristics of the
8roup of data.
ii) To help for comparision.
it) To help to make quantiative relationship between different groun average.
iv) To help in decision making.

16
MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY 17

2.2 TYPES OF MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY

Important types of measure of central tendency are given below:

Measures of Central Tendency

(Average)

Mathematical Positional

() Arithmetic (i) Geometric (ii) Harmonic Median Mode

mean mean mean

(A) Simple
(B) Weighted
arithmetic mean arithmetic mean

Figure: Measure of Central Tendency

siori
2.2.1 MATHEMATICAL AVERAGE

2) Arithmetic Mean
Arithmetic mean is the most conmmonly used measure of the central tendency. Its value
is obtained by dividing the sum of the values of various items in a series by the number of
total items. Arithemtic mean further divided into two types
A) Simple arithmetic mean
B) Weighted arithmetic mean
ili A) Simple arithmetic mean: The simple arithmetic mean of a set of values is obtained
by dividing the sum of the values the number of values in the set. It is denoted by AM. or
Calculation of Mean is an individual series :
There are two methods: Direct and Short cut method
a) Direct Method:
Let x,,X 29******s*****,
...,X, be the 'n' values of the variable x. Then the arithmetic mean,

Sum of the values

AM()Totalno's of the values

2 T..** TA,
n
 BIOSTATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY oLOGY
18 PUare 2.0, .
2.4, 2.6, 3.1, 3.4 and 2.5kg. Find the
babies
Example 1. The birth weight of
6

mean birth weight. r2itiiA

Solution. We have b
AM 2 4+X,+ .+X)

Here n= 6,x, = 2.0,x., = 2.4, x, =2.6,x, = 3.1,x, = 3.4,and x,2.

Then

AM== Z.0+2.4+2.6+3.1+3.4+
6
2.5

_
16.0
2.667
6
Kg

Example 2. The height of 10 students are in cm: 160, 162, 175, 158, 156, 169, 173, 192,
165, 167cm. Find the mean height of
students.
Solution. We have

AM=
n
X, +X . 10
X1o

Here n =10, then

160+162+175+158+156+169+173+192+165+167
10

1657 =165.7cm
X=
10

Example 3. Find the mean x :10, 8, 15, 12, 2, 9

Solution. Here n=6 and x
= 10+8+15+12+2+9=56

Then, Mean= x= 9.33

Indirect Method: It is used when the number of data

is very large.
(i) Short cut method:
Here, we take the deviations from the assumed mean.

AM=X=A+2
n
MEASUREOF CENTRAL TENDENCY 19
Where
X=Arithmetic mean
d Deviation = x-A = dx
A Assumed mean
n = Number of data

2d Sum of deviations
Example 4. Find the arithmetic mean, if
x: 101, 106, 125, 150, 110
Solution. Given n=5, A=110 (assumed mean)

X d x-A
101 101 110= -9
106 106-110= 4
125 125 110 15
150 150 110 = 40
110 (A) 110 110=0
2d= 42
AM=X= A + d
n

X=110+=110+8.4=118.4

ii) Step Deviation Method:

We have

X-A42xi
n

Where
=Arithmetic mean
A Assumed mean
n = Number of data

d Sum of deviations

i= Class interval
 BIOSTATISTICSs AND RESEARCH ETHODOLOGY
20 PU PV method, from the following data
Example 5 Find mean using step deviation
40 60 80 100
Marks (x) : 20
Solution.
Let A =60, and i = 20

X Deviation (dx) Step deviation (dx/i)=d'x

20 40 -2
40 -20 -1
60 0 0
80 20 1

100 40 2
n=5 2d'x=0
AM
=
x= A + n
-x i

x =
60 +x
0
5
20 = 660

Calculation of Mean in a Discrete

Series/Continuous Series:
There are three methods to calculate mean:
(i) Direct method ii) Short-cut method and (ii)
(i) Direct method:To calculate mean
Step deviation method
follows the procedure
Step 1: The value of each item x) is
multiplied by its frequency
(f) and take it's total say
2fx.
Step 2:Make sum of all frequencies i.e.
f
Step 3:Using formula to find mean x=

Example 6. From the following

data; calculate the mean
by direct method
Class () 2030
Frequency (9:|
40 50 60 70
Solution.
5 7 8 10 11 8
X
fx
20 100
30 210
40 8 320
50 10 500
60 11 660
70 8 560
2f= 49 2 2350
 MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY 21
Now,

x= 235041.96
x
49
Example 7. Calculate mean, from the followqing data
Age 18-20 21-23 24-26 27-29 30-32 33-35
Child
Solution.
18 20 32
7 2

Class interval Mid value (x)

18-20 19 18 342
21-23 22 20 440
24-26 25 32 880
27-29 28 196
30-32 31 2 62
33-35 34 34

2f 80 x=1874
Using formula,

lower limit + upper limit

G) Mid value =-
2

(ii) Mean X
fx l -23.4 years
2f8023.4 years

(ii) Short Cut Method

Follow the steps of calculation of mean
Step 1:Choose assumed mean (A)
Step 2:Calculate devaition, dx = x-A
Step 3:Multiply deviation and it's frequency then obtain the sum total ie. fdx
Step 4:Using formula to caleulate mean

=A+dk
Example 8. From the following distribution of data, calculate the mean by
using short
-cut method.
Class (x) 10 20 30 40 50 60
Frequencies (f)3 2 5 10
11 8
 BIOSTATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOT
22 PV
Solution. Let Assumed mean = 40
Class Frequencies Deviation Multiplication of frequency
(x) dx = XA & deviation = fdx
)
10 3 -30 -90
20 2 -20 40
30 5 -10 -50
4(-A) 10 0 0
50 11 10 110
60 3 20 160

f 39 fdx= 90
X=A+2fdx

90
40+=
39
40+2.31= 42.31

Example 9. From the following distirubtion

of marks obtained by 50 students
quantitative methods. Calculate arithmetic in a
mean.
Marks More than 10 20 30 40 50 60
No's of students 50 46 40 20
Solution. Here the given data is in commulative 10 03
form. First, we convert
frequency distribution. it into a.simple
We have i= 10, n =50
Marks Students Mid value Deviation | Step
deviation
f.dx
(x) () (m) dx=(x-A) dx'dX
f.dx'
10-20 4 15 -20
20-30
-2 8
25 -10 -1
30-40 20 35(A) -6
0
40-50 10 45 10
50-60 7 55 20 10
2
14
60-70 3 65 30 3
9
n=f 50 fdx'=19
Using the formula

X=A+dx xi
MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
23

19
35+x10
S0

35+3.8=38.8
ii) Step Deviation Method:
This is improved method of short cut method:
Step 1:Select an assumed mean
Step 2:Calculate deviation dx=x-A
Step 3: Calculate step deviation dx'= dx/i
frequencies ie. fdx"
Step 4 Multiply step deviation with its

Step 5: Take the sum of fdx' as we get 2fdx

Step 6: Finally, use the following formula

X=A+ xi
Where i is a class interval
(b) Weighted Arithmetic Mean
calculation of arithmetic mean by putting
Weighted arithmetic mean is defined as the
differently according to their relativ importance.
the weights to different items in a series
given below:
The formula for the weighted arithemtic mean is

W
Where X, = Weighted arithmetic mean

W Weighted assigned to different items

In case of frequency distribution, If f, f,f, are the frequencies of the variable values
Xa.respectively, then the weighted arithmatic mean is given by

,Wx)
Example 10. Calculate weighted arithmetic mean from the following distribution

Size 1020251520
Weight25|176
 VBIOSTATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHOnOOGY
24
Solution.
W WX

2 20
10
100
20 5
25 1 25
15 7 105

20 6 120

|2W=21 Wx =550
550
Weighted mean = X=9
W21
= 26.19
(ii) Geometric Mean
Geometric mean is defined as the nth root of the product of n values. It is denoted by
GM and defined as

GM XX,Xy. ...(1)

Where xX,.X,.X3...
Xare
the various values of the series and =
n number of items.
In case of large amount of items, we
use logarithms to simplify calculates.
From ), LogGM=Log(x,x.X.
i) Log mn = Log m+Lognn
Log Logx, +Logx, t..+Logx, ii) Log mn = nLog
m
i) m
Log=Log m-Logn
LogGMLogx

or GM = Anti log Log

Example 11. Daily incomes of ten workers are
given below. Calculate
mean. #ho
geometric
Income (Rs.) :40 45 75 70 85 500 250 36
Solution. 15
MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY 25

S.No. Income (x) Log (x)

40 1.6021
45 1.6532
3 75 1.8751
4 70 1.8451

5 85 1.9294

6 500 2.6990
7 250 2.3979
8 36 1.5563
9 8 0.9031
10 15 1.1761

Total n=10 Elogx=17.6373

We have GM = Anti log

Antiloe x(17.6373)

Anti log x1.76373

= Anti log(0.176373)

= 1.6383

(iii) Harmonic Mean:

The harmonic mean of n values is the reciprocal of the mean of the reciprocals of the
values. It is denoted by H.M. and defined as
Reciprocalreciprocals
HM,=

OI HM.=; n
2 reciprocals
Example 12. Calculate the H.M. from the following table:
X: 18, 12, 16, 21, 7, 9
Solution.
 26 VBIoSTATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

X Reciprocals

18 0.0556
12 0.0833
16 0.1667
21 0.4762
7 0.1429
9 0.1111

Total 358

N 6
H.M. =5.7926
2reciprocals 1.0358

2.2.2 POSITIONAL AVERAGE

(i) Median and (i) Mode

(i) Median
the data is arranged in ascend
Median of a set of values is the middle most value when data into
or descending order of magnitude. The middle value will divide the whole
ing
parts. The median is denoted by M. It is also called a positional average.
two equal
Method to compute of median
(a) Individual observations
each item.
Step 1: Allot a serial number to
ascending or descending order.
Step 2: Arrange data in
Using the following formula to calculate median.
Step 3

M=size of item

= Number of items
Where M = Median and N the following data gives the height of five student
median of
Example 13. Calculate
in c.m.
153, 163, 158
168, 173,
magnitude.
arrange given data in ascending order of
Solution. First, we
3 5
S.No. 168 173
158 163
Height of student 153
MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
27
Median = M=Size of item

= M= Size of item

Size of3 item= 163cm

Example 14. Following data gives the
birth weight of six babies are as 2.6, 3.3 2.8, 3.2
2.95 and 2.8 kg. Find the median birth
weight.
Solution. First we arrange the data in ascending
order of magnitude.
S.No.
1 2 3 5
Weight 2.6 | 2.8 2.8 2.95 3.2 3.3
Using the median formula,

M=size of item (N=6)

= size of
item

th
-sizs
of35 item

Since 3.5 lies between 3rd and 4th item]

3 value+4h value
2

5.13 2.87

(b) Discrete observations

Step 1: Define the item by x and frequency by f
Step 2: Calculate the commulative frequency (ct)
 28 PUBIOSTATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Step 3:Calculate median, using the following formula

M=size of
N+1. item

where N= Cummulative frequency

Example 15. Find median of daily wages of employees in hospital
Wage 145 170 180 190 200 210
No. of employee 33 16 8 20 6 2
Solution.
S.No. X Cummulative frequency (ci)
145 3 3

2 170 16 19
3 180 8 27
190 20 47(M)
200 6 53
6 210 2 55
Total f=55
Now, using the formula

Median=M= observation

*observation

observation

= 28th observation

That means 28th observation lies after 27th cummulative frequency i.e. 47 and the value
of 47th cummulative frequency is x = 190.
Hence, Median = 190
(c) Continuous Observation:
Step 1: Define the item by x, class interval by i and frequency by f.

Step 2:Calculate cummulative frequency.

Step 3:0btain the value of median class by using the following formula
MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY 29

M size of item

Step 4: Calculate the value of median by using the following formula

Median =M,
=L+N/2-cf).
where
L Lower limit of the median class
cf Cummulative frequency of the before median class
i= Class interval
N Sum of frequency in a series
f= Frequency ofthe median class
Example 16. Calculate the median from following data
Wages 80-100 100-120 120-140 140-160 160-180
12 8 6
Workers| 8 16
Sol.
S.No. Class interval| Frequency ()| Commulative frequency (cf)
1 80-100 8 8

2 100-120 12 20

120-140 16 36
3
140-160 3 44

5 160-180 50
n=5 Ef=50

=
Nh item
Median class size of

50)th
= size of item
= size of 25th item

25th item lies in (12) -140) class interval

Also, we have
L= Lower limit of median class 120
 V BIOSTATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
30
i = Length of median class
= 20
class = 16
f= Frequency of median
of before median class = 20
cf = Cummulative frequency
Now,

Me =L+N2c)xi
f

=120+25-20) x 20
16

= 120+x 20
= 120+ 100
16
= 120+6.3
=
Me 126.3
following data:
Example 17. Calculate the median from the
No. of student
No. of students Marks
Marks 96
04 Less than 50
Less than 10 112
16 Less than 60
Less than 20 120
40 Less than 70
Less than 30 125
76 Less than 80
Less than 40
Construct cummulative frequency table
Solution. Cummulative frequency |
Frequency
Class interval 4
4
0-10 16
12
10-20 40(=cf)
24
20-30 76
36(=f)
30-40 96
20
40-50 112
16
50-60 120
60-70 125
5
70-80
Ef=N=125
MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY 31

Median class= size of item

size of item

size of (62.5)" item

cf (62.5)th item lies in the (30-40)
=
class interval
So, Median class = 30-40

L 30, N/2=62.5, cf = 40, f= 36, i=10

Now

Median=L+2c)
f

(62.5-40)
30+ 36
10

30+22.Sx10)
36

= 30 + 6.25 = 36.25
Example 18. Given median = 50.4, N=60. Find the missing termn.
Marks 40-44 44-48 48-52 52-56 56-60
No. of student 8 10 20 x 7
Solution.
Class interval Frequency Cummulative frequencies
40-44 8 8
44-48 10 18
48-52 20 38
52-56 x 38+x
56-60 7 45+X
f N=(45+x)

Median class observation

 32 VBIOSTATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

45+X observation
2

5+ observation

th
item lies between (48-52) class interval.

So, we have L=48, N=45+x, Median = 50.4 (given) f-20, i=4 and cf=18

Median=L+-
(N/2-cfxi
f

50.4 488+
20

(45+x-36)/ (X+9)
= 48+- 2x4 = 48+
10
20

50.4x10=480+(x +9)
504-480= x +9
x+9 24
x= 24-9=15
Missing term = x = 15

i) Mode: frequency that means the item which occurs

the height
Mode is the value which has
number of time in a frequencies distribution. mode".
largest
most frequently in a distribution is called
occurs
"The value of variable which -Kenny and Keeping

and mathematically define as

Mode is denoted by M,

Mode M, d, dxi
+d,

where
 MEASURE CENIRAL TENDENCY 33
L Lower limit of mode class
i= Class interval of modal class
d, = Difference between the frequency of the modal class and premodal class
d, = Diference between the frequency of the modal class and post modal class

Mode -)
MoL(2í-f)Xi
where
f= Frequency of modal class
t= Frequency of pre modal class
f= Frequency of post modal class
L Lower limit of modal class
=

i= Class interval of modal

Example 19. Find the mode of given a set of data:
46, 47, 48, 47, 40, 50, 97, 52
Solution. Since the value 47 is occuring heighest number of time.
Hence mode = 47
Example 20. Calculate mode (for discrete data)
Wages 145 170 180 190 200|210
Employees 3 16 82062
Solution. Since the value 190 is occuring heighest number of time. So, the value of mode
is 190.
Example 21. Calculate mode for following data
Data 8-98-9 9-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 14-15
Frequency 8 14 21 25 15 10 7
Solution. In above table, we have modal class (11-12) with heighest frequency 25.
L=11, f=25, f=21, f,=15 and i=1

9r Mode= M, f-,) Xi
uT (2f-f,-f)
=
(25-21) x1
11+7
(2x 25-21-15)

=110-36)
4 4
(50-36llt=11+0.28=11.28 14