HANDOUTS IN PSY102: PSYCHOLOGICAL STATISTICS

BY GRACE G. CADAG
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
For ungrouped data
Mean
To find the arithmetic mean, add all the items or observations then divide by the
sum total number of observations. In symbol,
N

xi

x= i=1
N
where
observations

= mean,

x i = the observations,

= the total number of

Example 1: Find the average score of 15 selected students in a Statistics Quiz with the
following score
67
50
48
45
45
46
54
27
44
13
46
33
31
52
41
Solution:
N

xi

67+50+ 48+ 45+45+ 46+54+ 27+44 +13+ 46+33+31+52+41

x= i=1 =
N
15
597

=39.8
15
Example 2: Determine the mean of the data presented below.
Scores of Selected Students in a Statistics Quiz
Score Frequenc
fx
(x)
y (f)
65
3
195
63
5
315
61
4
244
60
8
480
58
5
290

25
1524
For these cases, the formula to be used is
Where fx
frequency and

x=

fx

N
= the sum of the product of the observation and it
N is the total frequency.

Solution:
fx = 1524 =60.96
x=
N
25
Median
The median is the midpoint of an array of numbers of observations. The symbol
Md represents the median.
If the data contains odd number of observations, the median is the only
observation that is in the middle dividing the set of data into two equal parts.
If the data contains even number of observations, the median for the array of
numbers is obtained by finding the mean of the two points at the middle.
Page 1 of 4 | G G C A D A G

Example 1: Find the median of the score of 15 students in a Statistics exam as shown
below.
67
50
48
45
45
46
54
27
44
13
46
33
31
52
41
Solution:
a. Arrange the scores in descending order.
67, 54, 52, 50, 48, 46, 46, 45, 45, 44, 41, 33, 31, 27, 13
b. Determine the middle score in this array, the 8th score: 45
Example 2: Determine the median age of the patients in the hospital:
10
2
5
6
5
8
9
9
Solution:
a. Arrange the ages in descending order.
10, 9, 9, 8, 6, 5, 5, 2
b. Determine the middle score in this array, the 4 th and 5th score then find their
average.
8+6 14
= =7
2
2
Mode
The mode is the observation which appeared the most number of times in the
distribution. A distribution may have only one mode and it is called unimodal. If it has
two modes, then the distribution is bimodal. If there are three or more modes in the
distribution then it is multimodal. There can also be instances wherein all of the
observations have the same frequencies therefore, there would be no mode in the
distribution.
Example 1: What is the mode of the scores of the students in a Statistics test?
67
50
48
45
45
46
54
27
44
13
46
33
31
52
41
Solution:
46 and 45 both appear twice in the distribution while the rest of the scores
appear only once, therefore the modes are 46 and 45.
Example 2: Determine the mode in the distribution of the scores below.
Score
(x)
65
63
61
60
58

Solution:

Frequen
cy (f)
3
5
4
8
5
25

The highest frequency is 8, therefore the mode is 60.

For grouped data

Mean
For grouped data, the mean is given by the formula
fx
x=
N

Page 2 of 4 | G G C A D A G

where x = mean,
number of observations.

= frequency,

= class mark and,

= the total

Median
The formula for finding the median of grouped data is
N
F b
2
Md=L Md +
i
f Md
where LMd = lower limit of the class boundary of the median class
Fb = less than cumulative frequency below the median class
i = class size
f Md = frequency of the median class

[ ]

To determine the median class, you have to compute

N
2

to determine which

class contains the median.

Mode
To find the mode of grouped data, the following formula should be applied:
d1
Mo=LMo +
i
d 1 +d 2
where LMo = the lower limit of the class boundary of the modal class
d 1 = the difference between the frequency of the modal class and the
frequency of the class preceding it
d 2 = the difference between the frequency of the modal class and the
frequency of the class following it.
i = class size

[ ]

The modal class is the class that contains the highest frequency.
Example: Determine the mean, median and mode of the distribution below.
Class Boundary
Scores
f
x
fx
90.5-95.5
91-95
16
93
1488
85.5-90.5
86-90
18
88
1584
80.5-85.5
81-85
25
83
2075
75.5-80.5
76-80
39
78
3042
70.5-75.5
71-75
35
73
2555
65.5-70.5
66-70
20
68
1360
60.5-65.5
61-65
12
63
756
i=5
N=165
fx=12860

<CF
165
149
131
106
67
32
12

Solution:
Mean
fx = 12860 =77.9
x=
N
165
Median
a. Determine the median class.
N 165
=
=82.5
2
2
Page 3 of 4 | G G C A D A G

Therefore, the median class should contain the 82.5 th score which is 76 80.

b.

N
=82.5
2

LMd =75.5

[ ]

Fb =67

f Md =39

i=5

N
F b
2
82.567
15.5
Md=L Md +
i =75.5+
5=75.5+
5=77.49
f Md
39
39

( )

Mode
a. Determine the modal class.
The highest frequency is 39, therefore the modal class is 76 80.
LMo =75.5

b.

Mo=LMo +

d 1=3935=4

[ ]

d 2=3925=14

i=5

d1
4
4
i=75.5+
5=75.5+
5=76.61
d 1 +d 2
4+14
18

( )

EXERCISE 1.
A. Determine the mean, median and mode of the following set of data.
1.

10

12

14

10

15

18

20

20

2.

85
86

84
87

85
82

89
83

87
84

88
80

85
89

52
88

20

21

B. Complete the table below then find the mean, median and mode of the distribution.
Scores

95-99

10

90-94

20

85-89

25

80-84

28

75-79

12

70-74

I= _____

N = ____

fx

Class Boundary

<CF

fx =

Page 4 of 4 | G G C A D A G