CHAPTER 9:

Measures of
Central
Tendency
 OBJECTIVES
• Presented scores in a frequency distribution
table.
• Calculated the mean, median and mode.
• Distinguished among the measures of central
tendency.
• Described the shapes of the distribution using
measures of central tendency; and
• Distinguished the different measures of location.
 KEY TERMS
FREQUENCY Normal distribution
DISTRIBUTION TABLE

MEAN Negatively skewed

distribution
MEDIAN Positively skewed
distribution
MODE Measures of Location
 LESSON 1: FREQUENCY
DISTRIBUTION
This chapter introduces the statistical
organization of test scores using Frequency
Distribution Table. It is also deals with the three
measures of central tendency (mean, median,
mode) and the kinds of distribution using these
measures. Likewise, the measures of location
(quartile, decile and percentile) will be discussed
in this chapter.
 FREQUENCY
DISTRIBUTION
A frequency distribution provides the
classroom teacher a systematic
arrangement of raw scores by tallying
the frequency of occurrence of each
score in the interval or in some instances
score values that have been grouped.
 Steps in Setting Up a Frequency
Distribution for Ungrouped Data
1.Arrange the scores from highest to lowest in a column headed
X. The X represents the raw scores.
2. Head the second column Tally and record a slash or tally mark
for each score. If a score value appears twice, this column will
have two slashes, three values give three slashes, and so on.
3. Count the slash / tally marks and place the number
corresponding to the total number of tallies for each raw score
value in the third column. The f column represents the
occurrence of each score.
4. Sum the f column and record the number of scores (N) as a
total.
Example 1. Given the following sets of score.
31 39 40 25 29 35 39 28
41 29 37 30 27 32 29 29

The Frequency distribution will be;

X TALLY FREQUENCY (F)

41 / 1
40 / 1
39 // 2
37 / 1
35 / 1
32 // 2
30 / 1

29 //// 4

28 / 1

27 / 1

25 / 1

n= 16
 Parts of Frequency Table (Grouped
Scores)
1. Class Interval (limits)(c.i) is the groupings of categories defined by the
lower and upper limits.
EXAMPLE; LL – UL
6 - 10
11- 15
16- 20
There are 3 classes or the class interval (c.i) is 3.
The lower class limit (LL) represents the smallest number in
each group.
The upper class limit (LU) represents the highest number in
each group.
2. Class Size (c.s) is the width of each class interval.
The class size of the above example is 5.
3. Class Boundaries (c.b) are the numbers used to separate
each category in the frequency distribution but without gasps
created by the class limits. The scores of the students are discrete
(countable). Add 0.5 to the upper limit to get the upper class
boundary and subtract 0.5 to the lower limit to get the lower
class boundary.
Example; LU-LL Lcb - ucb
6-10 5.5- 10.5
11-15 10.5 – 11. 5
16-20 15.5 – 20.5
•
 Steps in Constructing Distribution for
Grouped Scores

•
•
•
5. Tally each raw score according to the interval in which
it falls.
6. Find the sum of the frequencies.
7. Find the other parts if necessary such as class marks
(X ), among others.
m
EXAMPLE 2: The following scores are obtained from a 60 item test in Assessment in
Student Learning administered to 36 students. Construct a frequency distribution table
following the steps given previously.

56 44 32 34 22 52 21 18 40
47 30 49 36 20 46 30 50 38
27 30 41 50 30 40 33 49 36
27 48 33 41 25 36 48 24 19

1.Solve for Range:

R=HS – LS
R= 56 -18
R= 38
•
4. Construct the class limit starting with the lowest score as the lower limit of
the first category. The last category should contain the highest score in
distribution. Each category should contain 7 as the size. Count the number of
scores that fall in each category.

X TALLY FREQUENCY (F)

18 - 24 ////// 6
25 - 31 /////// 7
32 - 38 //////// 8
39 - 45 ///// 5
46 - 52 ///////// 9
53 - 59 / 1
n=36
5.Find the class boundaries and class marks of the given score
distribution. ( tally column is omitted here)
X f CLASS BOUNDARIES X m

18 - 6 17. 5 – 24. 5 21
24
25 - 7 24.5 – 31.5 28
31
32 - 8 31.5 – 38. 5 35
38
39 - 5 38.5 – 45. 5 42
45
46 - 9 45. 5 – 52. 5 49
52
53 - 1 52.5 – 59. 5 56
59
n= 36
LESSON 2:
MEAN,
MEDIAN and
MODE
Measures of central tendency relates to a point
in a distribution around which the scores tend to
center. This point can be used as the most
representative value for distribution of scores. A
measure of central tendency is helpful in showing
where the average or typical score falls. The teacher
can see how an individual student performance
relates to the average value or make comparisons
about two or more classes that took the same test.
The three measures of central tendency include the
mean, the median and the mode.
 MEAN
- Mean or the arithmetic mean is referred to as the average of
scores or measures. It is considered as the best and most
commonly used measure of central tendency due to the
following qualities;
> Each score contributes its proportionate share in
computing the mean. The mean is more stable than the median
or the mode.
> Since the mean means average, it is best understood and
more stable than the median or the mode.
> It is used as basis in computing other statistical measures
like the average deviation, standard deviation, coefficient of
variability, coefficient of correlation, etc.
 Computation of the Mean
from Ungrouped Data
•
•
 COMPUTATION OF THE MEAN FOR
GROUP DATA
•
EXAMPLE 3: A simple illustration for
computing the mean is shown below.
INTERVALS MIDPOINT
SCORES (x)

1-3 5 2 10
4-6 9 5 45
7-9 10 8 80
10-12 1 11 11
n= 25
•
•
•
INTERVALS
SCORES (x)
1-3 5 2 -10
4-6 9 -1 -9
7-9 10 0 0
10-12 1 1 1
n=25
 MEDIAN
Median is the point or score at the midpoint of the distribution of
scores arranged from highest to lowest or vice-versa. It is the
middlemost score in an ordered distribution of scores. It is the
point on the distribution of scores such that 50% of the numbers
of cases are above it and 50% of the numbers of the number
cases are below it.
Extreme low or high scores do not much affect the median. If
most of the scores are high, the median is high, if most of the
scores are low, the median is low.
 CALCULATION OF THE MEDIAN FOR
UNGROUPED SCORES
•
•
 = lower boundary of the class containing the median (subtract 0.5 from
the lower limit of the class containing the median).
< = cumulative frequency or the sum of the frequencies of all the classes
immediately preceding the class containing the median.
= frequency in the class containing the median.

= width of the class

 STEPS:
•
Example 5: A step-by-step illustration for computing the median of
scores arranged in ascending order is shown below.1. Adding the scores from
Step 1: Find the cumulative frequency. the upper part downward
since the scores in the class
SCORES (x) Cumulative
intervals are arranged from
Frequency (CF)
highest to lowest.
1-3 5 5
Start from the first frequency.
4-6 9 14
7-9 10 24
10-12 1 25
n=25
•
SCORES (x) Cumulative
Frequency (CF)
1-3 5 5
4-6 9 14
7-9 10 24
10-12 1 25
n=25
•
The computed median is
•
Step 1. Find the cumulative frequency.

Scores (X) Cumulative Add the first two lower end

Frequency (CF) frequencies 5+9 = 14.
10 - 12 1 25 Then 14+10 = 24.
7-9 10 24 Finally, 24 + 1 = 25.
The last CF should be equal to n.
4-6 9 14
Start from the lower end
1-3 5 5 frequency
n=25
•

Scores (X) CF
10 - 12 1 25 2, n/2 = 25/= 12.5, the
nearest CF is 14, hence
7-9 10 24 the class containing this
Median class
4-6 9 14 14 is the median class.
1-3 5 5
n = 25
•
 MODE
- Is the most frequently occurring score in the distribution. It is the
score with the highest frequency. It is the least reliable measure
of central tendency and not affected by extreme scores.
Determining the Mode from Ungrouped Scores
In the ungrouped scores, the mode requires no computation. It
can be determined through inspection. For example, in the
following set of scores:
a. 12, 29, 35, 36, 36, 45, 45, 45, 50, 53 – the mode is 45.
b. 8, 7, 6, 5, 6, 6, 9, 2, 3, 11, 11, 11- the mode is 11 and 6.
If there is only one mode, it is called unimodal. If there are two,
the mode is bimodal. If there are three or more modes, it is called
multimodal.
If no value in a data occurs more than once, then the data has no
mode. For instance, the set of scores 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12 has no mode.
Computation of the mode for grouped data
Steps:
1. Find the class with the highest frequency. That is the modal
class.
2. Find the lower class boundary of the modal class found in step 1
by subtracting 0.5 from the lower limit.
3. Identify the frequency of the modal class(fmo).
4. Identify f1, (frequency of the class before the modal class), f2
(frequency of the class after the modal class) and the c (class
size).
5. Substitute the given information to the formula.
•

Lmo =lower boundary of modal class

fmo =frequency of the modal class

f1 =frequency of the class before the modal class

f2 =frequency of the class after the modal class

c =class width
•
Score (x)
1-3 5
4-6 9
7-9 10
10 - 12 1
N = 25