Duhok Polytechnic University

Technical College of Engineering

Energy Engineering Department

Statistics and Probability

Lecture 3
Central Tendency Measurements

By:
Batool Abdulsatar Abdulghani
Shelan K. Ahmed
Measures of Central Tendency

➢ A measure of central tendency is a measure which indicates

where the middle of the data is.

➢ The three most commonly used measures of central tendency

are:

1. Mean

2. Median

3. Mode

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1. The Mean
The mean for ungrouped data is obtained by dividing the sum of
all values by the number of values in the data set (the average of
the data). Thus,
▪ Mean for sample data:

If 𝑥1, 𝑥2, … . . , 𝑥𝑛 are the sample values, then the sample mean is:

σ𝑛
𝑥ҧ = 𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥𝑛
𝑛
= 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖
𝑛
→ 𝑥ҧ =
σ𝑥
𝑛
where: Σ𝑥 is the sum of all values;
𝑛 is the sample size;
𝑥ҧ is the sample mean.

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Example
What is the mean of the following numbers: 8, 3, 5, 12, and 10?
Solution:

What is the mean of the following random sample of size 10 of

ages: 44, 30, 30, 63, 33, 25, 52, 36, 34 and 39?
Solution:

σ 𝑥 386
Mean for sample data: 𝑥ҧ = = =38.6
𝑛 10
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Properties of the Mean
✓ Uniqueness :
For a given set of data there is one and only one Mean
✓ Simplicity :
It is easy to understand and to compute.
✓ Affected by extreme values :
Since all values enter into the computation.

Property of Arithmetic Mean

The sum of the deviation of a set of numbers from their arithmetic
mean is zero.
𝑛 𝑛

෍ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ = 0 ↔ ෍ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑛𝑥ҧ = 0
𝑖=1 𝑖=1

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Example
The arithmetic mean of the numbers (8, 3, 5, 12,10) is 7.6, find
the sum of deviation of these numbers from the mean.
Solution:
𝑛

෍ 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥ҧ = 0
𝑖=1
The deviations of these numbers from their mean:
8 – 7.6 = 0.4
3 – 7.6 = - 4.6
5 – 7.6 = -2.6
12 – 7.6 = 4.4
10 – 7.6 = 2.4

And the sum of these deviations is:

0.4 + (-4.6) + (-2.6) + (4.4) + 2.4 = 0
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Mean for Grouped Data
▪ When data are presenting in a frequency table, all values
falling within a given class interval are considered to be
coincident with the class midpoint.
▪ To determine the mean of a grouped data, a frequency table is
required to set across the frequencies of the data which makes
it simple to calculate.
▪ The mean of data in frequency table for a sample is given by:

Where:
k : is the number of classes
xi : is the midpoint of class i,
fi : is the frequency of class i, and σ𝑛𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 = 𝑛

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How to find the Mean of a frequency Distribution(Grouped Data):
1. Find the midpoint of each class
(𝒙𝒊)
2. Find the product of the midpoint and the frequency of each class
(𝒇𝒊 𝒙𝒊)
3. Find the sum of products of midpoint and frequency of each class
(σ𝐧𝐢=𝟏 𝐟𝐢 𝐱 𝐢 )
4. Find the sum of the frequencies
(σ𝐧𝐢=𝟏 𝐟𝐢 )
5. Find the mean of the frequency table
( σ𝐧𝐢=𝟏 𝐟𝐢 𝐱 𝐢 )
𝐱ത =
( σ𝐧𝐢=𝟏 𝐟𝐢 )

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Example Class f
Wages (No. of Workers)
The following data represents the daily
7 - 18 6
wages of some workers in dollars. 19 - 30 10
Calculate the mean. 31 - 42 13
43 - 54 8
Solution: 55 - 66 5
67 - 78 6
Class f Midpoint (xi) fi x i 79 - 90 2
7 - 18 6 (7+18)/2=12.5 6*12.5= 75 Sum 50

19 - 30 10 24.5 10*24.5=245
31 - 42 13 36.5 13*36.5=474.5
43 - 54 8 48.5 8*48.5=388
55 - 66 5 60.5 5*60.5=302.5
67 - 78 6 72.5 6*72.5=435
79 - 90 2 84.5 2*84.5=169
Sum 50 2089

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Example
For the data in the following table, Midpoint frequency
Calculate the mean.
2499 7
Solution: 2586 3
2673 2
Midpoint frequency fi xi
2760 4
2499 7 2499 * 7 = 17493
2847 9
2586 3 2586 * 3 = 7758
2673 2 2673 * 2 = 5346
2760 4 2760 * 4 = 11040
2847 9 2847 * 9 = 25623
Sum 67260

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2. The Median
➢ The median for ungrouped data is the value of the middle term
in a dataset that has been ranked in ascending or descending
order.
➢ The median of a finite set of numbers is that value which
divides the ordered set into two equal parts.
➢ Let x1,x2, …, xn be the sample values. Then, there are two cases
of the sample size n as below:

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Properties of the Median
✓ Uniqueness :
For a given set of data there is one and only one Median
✓ Simplicity :
It is easy to calculate.
✓ Not affected by extreme values :
It is not affected by extreme values as is the mean.

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Example
Find the median for the sample values:
10, 54, 21, 38, 53
Solution:
1. Arrange the sample values in ascending or descending order:
10, 21, 38, 53, 54

2. n= 5 (odd)
Me = n+1/2 = (5+1)/2 = 6/2 =3

3. 10, 21, 38, 53, 54

the 3rd number is 38
the median = 38

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Example
Find the median for the following set of numbers (ungrouped):
(a) 4, 9, 3, 6, 10, 4, 5 (b) 15, 9, 12, 5, 7, 5, 18, 11
Solution: Solution:
▪ Arrange the set of data in ▪ Arrange the set of data in
ascending or descending ascending or descending
order: order:
3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 5, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 15, 18
▪ n = 7, n (odd) ▪ n = 8 , n (even)
▪ (n+1)/2 = (7+1)/2 = 4 ▪ n/2 = 8/2 = 4
▪ The 4th number is 5 and n/2 + 1 = (8/2)+1 =5
▪ The median = 5 ▪ The median:
9+11
=
20
= 10
2 2

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Example
Find the median for the following set of numbers (ungrouped):
(a) 114 120 115 114 122 115 120 (b) 25 33 42 20 37 41 48 25
Solution: Solution:
▪ Arrange the data ▪ Arrange the data
114 114 115 115 120 120 122 ▪ 20 25 25 33 37 41 42 48
▪ n = 7, n (odd) ▪ n = 8 , n (even)
▪ (n+1)/2 = (7+1)/2 = 4 ▪ n/2 = 8/2 = 4
▪ The 4th value is 115 and n/2 + 1 = (8/2)+1 =5
▪ The median = 115 33+37
▪ The median: = 35
2

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Median for Grouped Data
▪ To determine the median of a grouped data, a frequency table
is required to set across the frequencies of the data which
makes it simple to calculate.
▪ The median of data in frequency table (grouped data) for a
sample is given by:
Where:
L: is lower class boundary of the median class (class
containing the median).
∑fi : is total frequency.
CF: is the cumulative frequency of the class preceding the
median class.
f: is frequency of the median class.
C: is the size (width) of the median class.
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How to find the Median of a frequency table (Grouped Data):
1. Calculate the cumulative frequency.
2. Determine the class including the median, (the class include half
of total frequencies).

∑𝒇𝒊
2
3. Indicate the lower boundary of the median class, its class width ,
frequency of the median class and cumulative frequency for the
class before the median class.
4. Find the median of the frequency table:

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Example
Find the Median for the following data:

Class Frequency
10 – 19 3
20 – 29 6
30 – 39 10
40 – 49 15
50 – 59 8
60 – 69 5
70 - 79 3

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Solution:
1. Calculate the cumulative frequency.
Class Frequency Cumulative frequency

10 – 19 3 3
20 – 29 6 9
30 – 39 10 19
40 – 49 15 34
50 – 59 8 42
60 – 69 5 47
70 - 79 3 50
sum 50

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Solution (Cont.):
2. Determine the class including the median, (The class including
the median is the class including half the sum of frequency in its
cumulative frequency). Cumulative
Class Frequency
frequency
∑𝒇𝒊 50
= = 25 10 – 19 3 3
2 2
20 – 29 6 9
30 – 39 10 19
Median Class
40 – 49 15 34
50 – 59 8 42
60 – 69 5 47
70 - 79 3 50
sum 50

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Solution (Cont.):
3. Indicate the lower boundary (L) of the median class, its class
width (C), frequency of the median class (f) and cumulative
frequency (CF) for the class before the median class.
L = 39.5
C= 49.5 – 39.5 = 10 Cumulative
Class Frequency
F = 15 frequency
CF =19 10 – 19 3 3
20 – 29 6 9
4. Find the median of the 30 – 39 10 19
frequency table: 40 – 49 15 34
∑𝒇𝒊 −𝑪𝑭 50 – 59 8 42
Median =L+[ 𝟐 ]*C 60 – 69 5 47
𝒇
Median = 70 - 79 3 50
50
2
−19 sum 50
39.5 + [ ] * 10 = 43.5
15

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Example
The weight in pound of 40 students of a school are recorded in
the following frequency table, calculate the median.

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Solution:

The median lies in the 4th class, which is therefore the median class

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Example
For the data in the following frequency table, calculate the
median.

Class limits Frequency f

40 - 49 7
50 - 59 30
60 - 69 14
70 - 79 12
80 - 89 4
90 - 100 3
total 70

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Solution:

Frequency Cumulative
Class limits
f frequency
40 - 49 7 7
50 - 59 30 37
60 - 69 14 51
70 - 79 12 63
80 - 89 4 67
90 - 100 3 70
total 70

∑𝒇𝒊 70
= = 35
2 2

The median lies in the 2nd class, which is therefore the median class

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When Median is better?

❖ The median gives the center of a histogram, with half the data
values to the left of the median and half to the right of the median.

❖ The advantage of using the median as a measure of central

tendency is that it is not influenced by outliers.

❖ Consequently, the median is preferred over the mean as a measure

of central tendency for data sets that contain outliers.

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3. The Mode
The mode for ungrouped data is the value that occurs with the
highest frequency in a data set.

o If two entries occur with the same greatest frequency, each

entry is a mode.

o If no entry is repeated, the data set has no mode.

o A data set with only one mode is called unimodal.

o A data set with two mode is called bimodal.

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Example
Determine the mode for the following ungrouped data sets:
Solution:
Arrange each data set:

A. 9, 18, 10, 5, 9, 14, 2, 10, A. 2, 2, 5, 7, 9, 9, 9, 10, 10, 12, 14, 18

2, 7, 9, 12 The mode is 9

B. 20, 3, 8, 17, 10, 14, 5 B. 3, 5, 8, 10, 14, 17, 20

The data set has no mode.

C. 39, 42, 14, 25, 39, 2, 14, C. 2, 14, 14, 14, 15, 25, 26, 39, 39, 39, 42
26, 14, 39, 15 The data set has two modes, 14 and 39

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Advantage and Disadvantages of Mode:

A major shortcoming of the mode is that a data set may have none or
may have more than one mode, whereas it will have only one mean
and only one median.

• Unimodal: A data set with only one mode.

• Bimodal: A data set with two modes.

• Multimodal: A data set with more than two modes.

One advantage of the mode is that it can be calculated for both kinds
of data (quantitative and qualitative), whereas the mean and median
can only be calculated for quantitative data.

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Mode for Grouped Data
In the case of data set in frequency table (grouped data), the mode
can be obtained from the following formula:

𝒇𝟏 − 𝒇𝟎
Mode = L + [ ] *C
𝒇𝟏 − 𝒇𝟎 +(𝒇𝟏 − 𝒇𝟐 )

Where:
L = lower class boundary of the modal class (class with higher
frequency).
f0 = frequency of the class preceding the modal class.
f1 = frequency of the modal class (the class with higher frequency).
f2 = frequency of the class succeeding the modal class.
c = size of modal class.

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Example
Find the mode for the data in the following frequency table
(grouped data).

L = lower class boundary of the

modal class = 169.5
c = size of modal class
= 179.5 – 169.5 =10
f0 = 20 f1 =39 f2 = 6
Solution: 𝒇𝟏 − 𝒇𝟎
Mode = L + [ ] *C
𝒇𝟏 − 𝒇𝟎 +(𝒇𝟏 − 𝒇𝟐 )
The 4th class has the largest
frequency, so the 4th class is Mode = 169.5 + [
𝟏𝟗
] * 10 = 173.15
𝟏𝟗 ∓𝟑𝟑
the modal class

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Homework (1)
Find the mode for the data in the following frequency table
(grouped data).

Class Frequency
10 – 19 3
20 – 29 6
30 – 39 10
40 – 49 15
50 – 59 8
60 – 69 5
70 - 79 3

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Homework (2)
For the data in the following frequency table, find mean, median
and mode.

Class Frequency f

40 - 49 15
50 - 59 15
60 - 69 15
70 - 79 15
80 - 89 15
total 75

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Homework (3)
For the data in the following frequency table, find mean, median
and mode.
Class Interval Frequency (f)
0-9 20
10-19 21
20-29 23
30-39 16
40-49 11
50-59 10
60-69 7
70-79 3
80-89 1

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Homework (4)
For the following data, find mean, median and mode as:
1. ungrouped data, 2. grouped data.

112 109 110 105 118 134 120 127 100 112
109 105 114 114 122 118 116 117 118 110
110 106 122 118 117 118 115 114 112 107
111 104 111 119 120 113 121 110 108 116
114 114 112 118 110 105 117 120 113 120

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