Measures of Central

Tendency
Mean,Median and Mode
for Ungrouped Data
Basic Statistics

Measures of Central
Tendency
Measures of central tendency are numerical
descriptive

measures which indicate or

locate the center

of a distribution or data

set.

In laymans term, a
measure of central tendency
is an AVERAGE. It is a single
number of value which can
be considered typical in a set
of data as a whole.
For example, in a class of
40 students, the average
height would be the typical
height of the members of this
class as a whole.

MEAN
The MEAN of a set of values or measurements is
the sum of all the measurements divided by the
number of measurements in the set.

Among the three measures of central

tendency, the mean is the most popular and
widely used. It is sometimes called the arithmetic
mean.
If we compute the mean of the population, we
call it the parametric or population mean, denoted
by
(read mu).
If we get the mean of the sample, we call it the
sample mean and it is denoted by
(read x bar).

Mean for Ungrouped Data

For ungrouped or raw data, the mean has the following
formula.

where

= mean
= sum of the measurements or values
n = number of measurements

Example 1:
Ms. Sulit collects the data on the ages of Mathematics
teachers in Santa Rosa School, and her study yields the
following:
38

35

28

36

35

3340

Solution:
= 35
Based on the computed mean, 38 is the average age of
Mathematics teachers in SRS.

Your turn!
Mang John is a meat vendor. The following are his sales for
the past six days. Compute his daily mean sales.
Tuesday
P 5 800
Wednesday
8 600
Thursday
6 500
Friday
4 300
Saturday 12 500
Sunday
13 400

Solution:

= 51, 100
The average daily sales of Mang John is P51,100.

Weighted Mean
Weighted mean is the mean of a set of values wherein
each value or measurement has a different weight or
degree of importance. The following is its formula:

where

= mean
x = measurement or value
w = number of measurements

Example
Below are Amayas subjects and the corresponding number
of units and grades she got for the previous grading
period. Compute her grade point average.
Subject

Units

Grade

Filipino

.9

86

English

1.5

85

Mathematics

1.5

88

Science

1.8

87

Social Studies

.9

86

TLE

1.2

83

MAPEH

1.2

87

= 86.1
Amayas average grade is 86.1

Your turn!
James obtained the following grades in his five subjects for
the second grading period. Compute his grade point average.
Subject

Units

Grade

Math

1.5

90

English

1.5

86

Science

1.8

88

Filipino

0.9

87

MAKABAYAN

1.5

87

Solution:

= 87.67
James general average is 87.67

Likert-type Question
This is used if the researcher wants to know the feelings or
opinions of the respondents regarding any topic or issues of
interest.

Next are examples of Likert-type statements.

Respondents will choose the number which best
represents their feeling regarding the statements.
Note that the statements are grouped according
to a theme.
Choices
5

(SA) Strongly Agree

(A) Agree

(N) Neutral

(D) Disagree

(SD) Strongly Disagree

Students personal confidence in learning

Statistics

1. I am sure that I can learn Statistics

2. I think I can handle difficult lessons in
Statistics.
3. I can get good grades in Statistics.
Source: B.E. Blay, Elementary Statistics

Below are the responses in the Likert-type of

statements above. The table below shows the mean
responses and their interpretation. Using the formula for
computing the weighted mean, check the correctness of the
given means on the table.
5

Mean

Interpretation

36

51

18

4.14

Agree

18

44

37

3.65

Agree

18

48

28

3.86

Agree

Likert-type Mean
Interpretation
1.0 - 1.79

Strongly Disagree

1.8 - 2.59

Disagree

2.6 - 3.39

Neutral

3.4 - 4.19

Agree

4.2 - 5.00

Strongly Agree

Your turn!
Below is the result of the responses to the following Likerttype statements . Solve for the mean and give the
interpretation.

Students perception on Statistics as a

subject

1. I think Statistics is a worthwhile, necessary

subject
2. I will use Statistics in many ways as a
professional
3. Ill need a good understanding of Statistics
for my research work
5

33

49

26

35

45

31

34

58

21

Mean

Interpretation

Properties of Mean
1. Mean can be calculated for any set of
numerical data, so it always exists.
2. A set of numerical data has one and only one
mean.
3. Mean is the most reliable measure of central
tendency since it takes into account every item
in the set of data.
4. It is greatly affected by extreme or deviant
values (outliers)
5. It is used only if the data are interval or ratio.

MEDIAN
The MEDIAN, denoted Md, is the middle value
of the sample when the data are ranked in order
according to size.
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Media
n
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Media
n

Your turn!
Compute the median and interpret the result.
1. In a survey of small businesses in Tondo, 10 bakeries
report the following numbers of employees:
15, 14, 12, 19, 13, 14 15, 18, 13, 19.
2. The random savings of 2nd year high school students
reveal the following current balances in their bank
accounts:
Students
A
B
C
D
E
F
Current Balances

P340

350

450 500 360

760

800

740

3. The following are the lifetimes of 9 lightbulbs in

thousands of hours.
Lightbulb
Lifetime

1.1 1.1

1.2

1.1

1.4

.9

.2

1.2

1.7

Properties of Median
1. Median is the score or class in the distribution
wherein 50% of the score fall below it and
another 50% lie.
2. Median is not affected by extreme or deviant
values.
3. Median is appropriate to use when there are
extreme or deviant values.
4. Median is used when the data are ordinal.
5. Median exists in both quantitative or qualitative
data.

MODE
The MODE, denoted Mo, is the value which
occurs most frequently in a set of measurements or
values. In other words, it is the most popular value
in a given set.
Examples:
Find the Mode.
1. The ages of five students are: 17, 18, 23, 20, and 19
2. The following are the descriptive evaluations of 5
teachers: VS, S, VS, VS, O
3. The grades of five students are : 4.0, 3.5, 4.0, 3.5, and
1.0
4. The weights of five boys in pounds are: 117, 218, 233,
120, and 117

Properties
1. It is used when you want to find the value
which occurs most often.
2. It is a quick approximation of the average.
3. It is an inspection average.
4. It is the most unreliable among the three
measures of central tendency because its
value is undefined in some observations.

Your turn!
Find the mode and interpret it.
1. The following table shows the frequency of errors
committed by 10 typists per minute.
Typists

No. of errors per min.

10

2. A random sample of 8 mango trees reveals the

following number of fruits they yield
Mango Tree

No. of fruits

80

70

80

90

82

82

90

82

3. The following are the scores of 9 students in a

Mathematics quiz.: 12, 15, 12, 8, 7, 15, 19, 24, 13