BASIC STATISTICAL RESEARCH

Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median and Mode

A measure of central tendency is a location measure that pinpoints the center or middle
value.
Let us use the situation in activity 1

✓ The value of 32,250 occurs most often or it is the value with the highest frequency which is 9.
This is called the modal value or simply the mode. In this data set, the value of 32,250 is found
in the center of the distribution.
In a given data set, the mode can easily be picked out by ocular inspection, especially if the data
are not too many. In some data sets, the mode may not be unique. The data set is said to be
unimodal if there is a unique mode
Bimodal if there are two modes, and multimodal if there are more than two modes. For
continuous data, the mode is not very useful since here, measurements (to the most precise
significant digit) would theoretically occur only once.

✓ When arranged in increasing order or the data come in an array as in the following:
12,000; 12,000; 20,000; 20,000; 20,000; 24,000; 24,000; 24,000; 24,000; 25,000; 25,000; 25,000;
25,000; 25,000; 25,000; 25,000; 25,000; 32,250; 32,250; 32,250; 32,250; 32,250; 32,250; 32,250;
32,250; 32,250; 36,000; 36,000; 36,000; 36,000; 36,000; 40,000; 40,000; 60,000; 60,000;

There are 17 values that are less than the middle value while another 17 values are higher or equal
to the middle value. That middle value is the 18th observation and it is equal to 32,250 pesos. The
middle value is called the median and is found in the center of the distribution.

✓ The average monthly family income is commonly referred to as the arithmetic mean or simply the
mean which is computed by adding all the values and then the sum is divided by the number of
values included in the sum. The average value is also found somewhere in the center of the
distribution.
The following diagram provides a guide in choosing the most appropriate measure of central tendency to
use in order to pinpoint or locate the center or the middle of the distribution of the data set. Such measure,
NO BEST TO
OUTLIERS USE MEAN
ARE THERE
ORDINAL/ WHAT IS LARGE
OUTLIERS? BEST TO
THE SIZE
INTERVAL/ OUTLIERS USE
OF THE BEST TO
What is RATIO MEDIAN
DATA? SMALL USE
the
context of MEDIAN
the data
BEST TO
NOMINAL
USE MODE

being the center of the distribution ‘typically’ represents the data set as a whole. Thus, it is very crucial to
use the appropriate measure of central tendency.

INFORMATION SHEET 3.0

Measures of Dispersion: Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation
The range is a simple measure of variation defined as the difference between the maximum and
minimum values. The range depends on the extremes; it ignores information about what goes in between
the smallest (minimum) and largest (maximum) values in a data set. The larger the range, the larger is the
dispersion of the data set.
Variance is a measure of dispersion that accounts for the average squared deviation of each observation
from the mean. Since we square the difference of each observation from the mean, the unit of
measurement of the variance is the square of the unit used in measuring each observation. Such property
is a little bit problematic in interpretation.
2 2
NΣ𝑓𝑥 −(Σ𝑓𝑋)
𝜎2 =
𝑁(𝑁−1)

Hence, instead of the variance the standard deviation is computed which is the positive square of the
NΣ𝑓𝑥 2 −(Σ𝑓𝑋)2
variance, that is 𝜎 = √ .
𝑁(𝑁−1)

Example 1
We have two sets of scores in a mathematics test given to grade 10 boys and girls. Here are the sets of
scores with 100 as the highest possible score.
Boys: 89 88 73 81 89 74 74
76 86 74 75 88 78 79
86 81 90 89 88 85 92
92 87 90 87 93 94 94
Girls: 72 75 92 86 74 80 71
78 90 85 75 76 81 76
75 76 76 96 87 75 71
78 72 71 71 74 74 71
Compare the two sets of scores of the boys and those of the girls by considering the statistical values,
namely, range, mean, and standard deviation.
Solution
To easily understand the data, let us use the frequency distribution table. Since we need to
compare the set of scores from boys to girls, we will use separate tables.
BOYS
Scores (𝑥) Frequency (𝑓) 𝑓𝑥 2 𝑓𝑥
73 1 1(73)2 = 5329 73
74 3 3(74)2 = 16428 222
75 1 1(75)2 = 5625 75
76 1 1(76)2 = 5776 76
78 1 1(78)2 = 6084 78
79 1 1(79)2 = 6241 79
81 2 2(81)2 = 13122 162
85 1 1(85)2 = 7225 85
86 2 2(86)2 = 14792 172
87 2 2(87)2 = 15138 174
88 3 3(88)2 = 23232 264
89 3 3(89)2 = 23763 267
90 2 2(90)2 = 16200 180
92 2 2(92)2 = 16928 184
93 1 1(93)2 = 8649 93
94 2 2(94)2 = 17672 188
total 28 202204 2372

Mean 𝝁 =
89+88+73+81+89+74+74+76+86+74+75+88+78+79 +86+81+90+89+88+85+92 +92+87+90+87++93+94+
28
= 84.71
Median. To find the median, arrange the scores in ascending order, then locate the middle score

73, 74,74,74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 81, 85, 86, 86, 87, 87, 88, 88, 88, 89, 89, 89, 90, 90, 92, 92 93, 94, 94
The median is 87. Median is not advisable to use when there is large size of scores or the scores are not
normally distributed.
Mode: This data is multimodal which are 88, 89, and 74 because they are the most frequent score which
is 3.
We can only solve for the standard deviation if the variance is known.
Range: 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 – 𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒
𝑟 = 94 − 73 = 21
2 2
Σ𝑓𝑥 −(Σ𝑓𝑋)
Variance: 𝜎 2 = 𝑁(𝑁−1)

(28)202204 − (2372)2 5661712 − 5626384 35328

𝜎2 = = = = 46.73
28(28 − 1) 28(27) 756
Standard deviation:

NΣ𝑓𝑥 2 − (Σ𝑓𝑋 )2
𝜎= √ = √46.73 = 6.84
𝑁(𝑁 − 1)

GIRLS
Scores (𝑥) Frequency (𝑓) 𝑓𝑥 2 𝑓𝑥
71 5 25205 355
72 2 10368 144
74 3 16428 222
75 4 22500 300
76 4 23104 304
78 2 12168 156
80 1 6400 80
81 1 6561 81
85 1 7225 85
86 1 7396 86
87 1 7569 87
90 1 8100 90
92 1 8464 92
96 1 9216 96
total 28 170704 2178

Mean =
72+75+92+86+74+80+71+78+90+85+75+76+81+76+75+76+76+96+87+75+71+78+72+71+71+74+74+71
28
𝟐𝟏𝟕𝟖
= = 𝟕𝟕. 𝟕𝟗
𝟐𝟖

Median
71, 71, 71, 71, 71, 72, 72, 74, 74, 74, 75, 75, 75, 75, 76, 76, 76, 76, 78, 78, 80, 81, 85, 86, 87, 90, 92, 96
75. 5
Mode: The given data is unimodal = 71
Range: 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 – 𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒
𝑟 = 96 − 71 = 25
2 2
Σ𝑓𝑥 −(Σ𝑓𝑋)
Variance: 𝜎 2 = 𝑁(𝑁−1)

(28)170704 − (2178)2 4779712 − 4743684 36028

𝜎2 = = = = 47.66
28(28 − 1) 28(27) 756
Standard deviation:

NΣ𝑓𝑥 2 − (Σ𝑓𝑋 )2
𝜎= √ = √47.66 = 6.90
𝑁(𝑁 − 1)

Let us summarize the data.

Observation Boys Girls
Mean 84.71 77.79
Median 87 75.6
Mode 88, 89, 74 71
Range 21 25
Variance 46.73 47.66
Standard deviation 6.84 6.90

Interpretation
The range of the scores of boys is 21; the range of the scores of girls is 25. There is a wider gap
between the highest and lowest observations in the set of scores of the girls. A girl is the “top” for this
test, a 96. However, the lowest score is 71 for the test is found in the set of scores of girls.
The mean, also called the average, of the 28 boys who took the math test 84.71. This mean score
is higher than 77.79, the mean of the 28 girls who took the same test. The mean difference in the scores in
the test of the two groups is 6.92.
The standard deviation is a measure of spread of the observations around the mean. A lesser
standard deviation indicates that the observation in the set are clustered near the mean. A higher standard
deviation indicates that the observation in the set are more widely spread from the mean. The standard
deviation of the scores of the boys and the girls are 6.84 and 6.90, respectively. These values are almost
equal; they both round off to 7.0. Hence, the spread of the scores of the boys from the mean of their
scores is almost the same as the spread of the scores of the girls from the mean of their scores.
Based on the mean and standard deviations of the two groups, it is safe to conclude that the boys
achieved higher scores than the girls in this test.
Example 2.
Let us use the same set of scores of the boys and girls in example 1 and use percentages to
compare them.
Boys: 89 88 73 81 89 74 74
76 86 74 75 88 78 79
86 81 90 89 88 85 92
92 87 90 87 93 94 94
Girls: 72 75 92 86 74 80 71
78 90 85 75 76 81 76
75 76 76 96 87 75 71
78 72 71 71 74 74 71
boys % girls %
Low (74 below) 4 14.3 10 35.7
Average (75-84) 6 21.4 12 42.9
High (85) and 18 64.3 6 21.4
above
n 28 100 28 100.0

Interpretation
The range of values for low (74 below), average (75-84), and high (85 and above) are arbitrarily
considered. The only reason for the ranges is that the values 74 and below round off to 70, values from
75-84 round off to 80, and the values 85 and above round off to 90 or 100.

He frequencies in the low, average, and high expressed in percent determined from the set of
scores of the boys are 14.3%, 21.4%, and 64.3%, respectively. For the scores of the girls in the same test,
we have in the same order, the frequencies in percent are 35.7%, 42.9%, and 21.4%. the two set of values
almost are reverse of each other. Evidently, for this test, many boys scored high.
Example 3.
Let us put the scores of the boys and the girls together and determine the median, the quartile
𝑄1 and 𝑄3 , and the top most decile D9 .
Boys: 89 88 73 81 89 74 74
76 86 74 75 88 78 79
86 81 90 89 88 85 92
92 87 90 87 93 94 94
Girls: 72 75 92 86 74 80 71
78 90 85 75 76 81 76
75 76 76 96 87 75 71
78 72 71 71 74 74 71
We put them as one group and arrange them from least to greatest as follows:
71 71 71 71 71 72 72 73 74
74 74 74 74 74 𝑸𝟏 75 75 75
75 75 76 76 76 76 76 78 78
78 79 Median 80 81 81 81 85 85
86 86 86 87 87 87 88 88 𝑸𝟑
88 89 89 89 90 90 90 92 92
92 93 94 94 96

The positions of 𝑄1 , median, and 𝑄3 are plotted for easy computation. Here are the computed
values:
Median 79.5 𝑸𝟏 = 𝟕𝟒. 𝟓 𝑸𝟑 = 𝟖𝟖. 𝟎 𝑫𝟗 =
𝟗𝟐. 𝟎
Note that there are 56 observations in all. So, we get the upper 28 and the lower 28. We get the
average of 79 and 80, or (79 + 80) ÷ 2 = 79.5. First quartile 𝑄1 is the average of 14th and 15th
observations or (74 + 75) ÷ 2 = 74.5. As we can see, 𝑄3 = 88.0
Let us determine the number of scores that are above or below the cut off points.
The median of the entire group is 79.5. this is the value that separates the upper 50% from the
lower 50% of the combined group. There are 8 boys and 20 girls whose scores are below the median.
Consequently, 20 of the boys and 8 of the girls have the scores that are above the median.
The lower quartile 𝑄1 separates the lower 25% from the whole group. The computes 𝑄1 of the
group is 74.5. four of the boys and 10 of the girls have scores below 74.5.
The upper quartile 𝑄3 separates the upper 25% from the whole group. The computed 𝑄3 of the
distribution is 88.0. there are 13 boys and 3 girls with scores within the upper quartile.
The 9th decile separates the top 10% from the rest of the group. In the combined distribution of
the scores of boys and girls, 𝐷9 = 92.0, five boys and 2 girls are in the upper 10% of the group.