MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

CHAPTER 3
3. MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY
Introduction
 When we want to make comparison between groups of numbers it is good to have a single value
that is considered to be a good representative of each group. This single value is called the average
of the group. Averages are also called measures of central tendency.
 An average which is representative is called typical average and an average which is not
representative and has only a theoretical value is called a descriptive average
Objectives:
 To comprehend the data easily.
 To facilitate comparison.
 To make further statistical analysis.

The Summation Notation:

 Let X1, X2, X3 …XN be a number of measurements where N is the total number of
observation and Xi is ith observation.
 Very often in statistics an algebraic expression of the form X1+X2+X3+...+XN is used in a
formula to compute a statistic. It is tedious to write an expression like this very often, so
mathematicians have developed a shorthand notation to represent a sum of scores, called
the summation notation.
N
 The symbol X
i 1
i is a mathematical shorthand for

The expression is read, "the sum of X sub i from i equals 1 to N." It means "add up all the
numbers."

Example: Suppose the following were scores made on the first homework assignment for five
students in the class: 5, 7, 7, 6, and 8. In this example set of five numbers, where N=5, the
summation could be written:

The "i=1" in the bottom of the summation notation tells where to begin the sequence of
summation. If the expression were written with "i=3", the summation would start with the third
number in the set. For example:

1
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

In the example set of numbers, this would give the following result:

The "N" in the upper part of the summation notation tells where to end the sequence of
summation. If there were only three scores then the summation and example would be:

Sometimes if the summation notation is used in an expression and the expression must be written
a number of times, as in a proof, then a shorthand notation for the shorthand notation is
employed. When the summation sign "" is used without additional notation, then "i=1" and "N"
are assumed.

For example:

PROPERTIES OF SUMMATION
n
1.  k  nk
i 1
where k is any constant
n n
2.  kXi  k  X i where k is any constant
i 1 i 1
n n
3.  (a  bX i )  na  b X i where a and b are any constant
i 1 i 1
n n n

4. (X
i 1
i  Yi )   X i   Yi
i 1 i 1

5.

2
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Example: considering the following data determine

X Y
5 6
7 7
7 8
6 7
8 8
5
a) X
i 1
i

5
b) Y
i 1
i

5
c) 10
i 1
5
d) (X
i 1
i  Yi )
5
e) (X
i 1
i  Yi )
5
f) X Y
i 1
i i

X
2
g) i
i 1
5 5
h) ( X i )( Yi )
i 1 i 1
Solutions:
5
a) X
i 1
i  5  7  7  6  8  33
5

b) Y  6  7  8  7  8  36
i 1
i

5
c) 10  5 *10  50
i 1
5
d) (X
i 1
i  Yi )  (5  6)  (7  7)  (7  8)  (6  7)  (8  8)  69  33  36
5
e) (X
i 1
i  Yi )  (5  6)  (7  7)  (7  8)  (6  7)  (8  8)  3  33  36
5

f)  X Y  5 * 6  7 * 7  7 * 8  6 * 7  8 * 8  241
i 1
i i

3
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

X  5 2  7 2  7 2  6 2  8 2  223
2
g) i
i 1
5 5
h) ( X i )( Yi )  33 * 36  1188
i 1 i 1
 Properties of measures of central tendency (a typical average should possess the following)
 It should be rigidly defined.
 It should be based on all observation under investigation.
 It should be as little as affected by extreme observations.
 It should be capable of further algebraic treatment.
 It should be as little as affected by fluctuations of sampling.
 It should be ease to calculate and simple to understand.

Types of measures of central tendency

There are several different measures of central tendency; each has its advantage and
disadvantage.
 The Mean (Arithmetic, Geometric and Harmonic)
 The Mode
 The Median
 Quintiles (Quartiles, Deciles and Percentiles)
The choice of these averages depends up on which best fit the property under discussion.

The Arithmetic Mean

 Is defined as the sum of the magnitude of the items divided by the number of items.
 The mean of X1, X2 ,X3 …Xn is denoted by A.M ,m or X and is given by:
X 1  X 2  ...  X n
X
n
n

X i
X i 1

n
 If X1 occurs f1 times
 If X2occurs f2 times
 If Xn occurs fn times
k

fX k

f n
i i

Then the mean will be X i 1

k , where k is the number of classes and i
f
i 1
i
i 1

Example:

Agriculture students planted eight bean seeds in separate plastic cups and placed them under a
bank of fluorescent lights. Fourteen days later, the students measured the height of the bean
plants that grew from those seeds and recorded their results in Table 2.
4
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Table 2. Bean Plant Heights

Plant No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Height 7.5 10.1 8.3 9.8 5.7 10.3 9.2 8.7
(cm)

To determine the mean of the bean plants, follow these steps:

I. Find the sum of the heights:

7.5 + 10.1 + 8.3 + 9.8 + 5.7 + 10.3 + 9.2 + 8.7 = 69.6 centimeters

II. Count the number of height measurements:

There are 8 height measurements.

III. Divide the sum of the heights by the number of measurements to compute the mean:

Mean = Xi= 69.6 cm/8 = 8.7 centimeters

The mean for this sample of eight plants is 8.7 centimeters and serves as an estimate for the true
mean of the population of bean plants growing under these conditions. In other words, if the
students collected data from hundreds of plants and graphed the data, the center of the
distribution should be around 8.7 centimeters.

Arithmetic Mean for Grouped Data

If data are given in the shape of a continuous frequency distribution, then the mean is obtained as
follows:
k

f X i i
X  i 1
k
,Where Xi =the class mark of the ith class and fi = the frequency of the ith
f i 1
i

class
Example: calculate the mean for the following age distribution.
Class frequency
6- 10 35
11- 15 23
16- 20 15
21- 25 12
26- 30 9
31- 35 6

5
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Solutions:
 First find the class marks
 Find the product of frequency and class marks
 Find mean using the formula.
Class fi Xi Xifi
6- 10 35 8 280
11- 15 23 13 299
16- 20 15 18 270
21- 25 12 23 276
26- 30 9 28 252
31- 35 6 33 198
Total 100 1575

f X i i
1575
X i 1
6
  15.75
f
100
i
i 1
If the values in a series or mid values of a class are large enough, coding of values is a good
device to simplify the calculations.

 For raw data suppose we have used the following coding system.
di  X i  A
 X i  di  A
n n

 Xi  (d i  A)
X  i 1
 i 1

n n
n

d i
 X  A i 1

n
 X  Ad
Where A is an assumed mean and d is the mean of the coded data.
 If the data are expressed in terms of ungrouped frequency distribution
di  X i  A
 X i  di  A
k k

 fi X i  f i ( d i  A)
X  i 1
 i 1

n n
k

 fi di
 X  A i 1

n
 X  Ad

6
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Example
The following table gives the age of 58 patients.
Calculate the average age of patients.
Ages No. of Students
0-10 4
10-20 8
20-30 11
30-40 15
40-50 12
50-60 6
60-70 2
Total 58
For the above given example of 58 patients’ age, we calculate the average age by using the short-
cut method.
Marks Mid-point (X) f d=X-35 f*d
0-10 5 4 -30 -120
10-20 15 8 -20 -160
20-30 25 11 -10 -110
30-40 35 15 0 0
40-50 45 12 10 120
50-60 55 6 20 120
60-70 65 2 30 60
 fd  90
It may be noted that we have taken arbitrary mean as 35 and deviations from mid-points. In other
words, the arbitrary mean has been subtracted from each value of mid-point and the resultant
figure is shown in column‘d’.
Now,

X  A
 fd
N
= 35+ (-90/58)
= 35- 1.55
= 33.45 years.
 In both cases the true mean is the assumed mean plus the average of the deviations from the
assumed mean.
 Suppose the data is given in the shape of continuous frequency distribution with a constant
class size of w then the following coding is appropriate.

7
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

X  A
d  i
i w
 X  wd  A
i i
k k
 f X  f ( wd  A)
i i i i
X  i 1  i 1
n n
k
 f wd
i i
 X  A i 1
n
 X  A  wd
Where: Xi is the original class mark for the ith class.
di is the transformed class mark for the ith class.
A is an assumed mean usually the mean of the class marks. (i =1, 2… k)
Example:
Now we take up the calculation of arithmetic mean for the same set of data using coding method
(the step-deviation method). This is shown below.

Marks Mid-point (X) f di d '  d/10 f*d’

0-10 5 4 -30 -3 -12

10-20 15 8 -20 -2 -16
20-30 25 11 -10 -1 -11
30-40 35 15 0 0 0
40-50 45 12 10 1 12
50-60 55 6 20 2 12
60-70 65 2 30 3 6
 fd '
 9

Where ‘d ‘ is divided by the common factor i.e. by class width (which is 10) and w is the
common factor in the formula given below.

X  A w
 fd '

N
= 35 + (-9/58)*10
= 33.45 years.
Example:
1. Suppose the deviations of the observations from an assumed mean of 7 are: 1, -1, -2, -
2, 0, -3, -2, 2, 0, -3.
a) Find the true mean
b) Find the original observation.

8
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Solutions:
10
A  7,  d i  10
i 1

 10
a)  d   1
10
 X  A  d  7 1  6
The true mean is 6.
b) Using Xi=A+di we obtain the following original observations:
8, 6, 5, 5, 7, 4, 5, 9, 7, 4.
Special properties of Arithmetic mean
1. The sum of the deviations of a set of items from their mean is always zero. i.e.
n

 ( X  X )  0.
i 1
i

2. The sum of the squared deviations of a set of items from their mean is the minimum. i.e.
n n

 ( Xi  X )   ( X  A) , A  X
i 1
2

i 1
i
2

3. If X 1 is the mean of n1 observations

If X 2 is the mean of n 2 observations
.
.
If X k is the mean of n k observations
Then the mean of all the observation in all groups often called the combined mean is given by:
k

X n  X 2 n 2  ....  X k n k X n i i
Xc  1 1  i 1
n1  n 2  ...n k
k

n
i 1
i

Example: In a class there are 30 females and 70 males. If females averaged 60 in an

examination and boys averaged 72, find the mean for the entire class.
Solutions:
Females Males
X 1  60 X 2  72
n1  30 n2  70

X 1 n1  X 2 n 2  X i ni
Xc   2
i 1

n1  n 2  ni i 1

30(60)  70(72) 6840

 Xc    68.40
30  70 100
9
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

4. If a wrong figure has been used when calculating the mean the correct mean can be
obtained without repeating the whole process using:
(CorrectValue  WrongValue)
CorrectMean  WrongMean 
n
Where n is total number of observations.
Example: An average weight of 10 students was calculated to be 65.Latter it was
discovered that one weight was misread as 40 instead of 80 k.g. Calculate the correct
average weight.
Solutions:
(CorrectValue  WrongValue)
CorrectMean  WrongMean 
n
(80  40)
CorrectMean  65   65  4  69k.g.
10

5. The effect of transforming original series on the mean.

a) If a constant k is added/ subtracted to/from every observation then the new mean
will be the old mean± k respectively.
b) If every observations are multiplied by a constant k then the new mean will be k*old
mean
Example:
1. The mean of n Tetracycline Capsules X1, X2, …,Xn are known to be 12 gm. New set of
capsules of another drug are obtained by the linear transformation Yi = 2Xi – 0.5 ( i =
1, 2, …, n ) then what will be the mean of the new set of capsules

Solutions:
NewMean  2 * OldMean  0.5  2 * 12  0.5  23.5

2. The mean of a set of numbers is 500.

a) If 10 is added to each of the numbers in the set, then what will be the mean of the new
set?
b) If each of the numbers in the set are multiplied by -5, then what will be the mean of
the new set?
Solutions:
a).NewMean  OldMean  10  500  10  510
b).NewMean  5 * OldMean  5 * 500  2500

Weighted Mean
 When a proper importance is desired to be given to different data a weighted mean is
appropriate.
 Weights are assigned to each item in proportion to its relative importance.
 Let X1, X2, …Xn be the value of items of a series and W1, W2, …Wn their corresponding
weights , then the weighted mean denoted X w is defined as:

10
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

X W i i
Xw  i 1
n

W
i 1
i

Example:
A student obtained the following percentage in an examination:
English 60, Biology 75, Mathematics 63, Physics 59, and chemistry 55.Find the students
weighted arithmetic mean if weights 1, 2, 1, 3, 3 respectively are allotted to the subjects.
Solutions:
5

X W i i
60 * 1  75 * 2  63 * 1  59 * 3  55 * 3 615
Xw  i 1
   61.5
1 2  1 3  3
5
10
W
i 1
i

Merits and Demerits of Arithmetic Mean

Merits:
 It is rigidly defined.
 It is based on all observation.
 It is suitable for further mathematical treatment.
 It is stable average, i.e. it is not affected by fluctuations of sampling to some extent.
 It is easy to calculate and simple to understand.
Demerits:
 It is affected by extreme observations.
 It cannot be used in the case of open end classes.
 It cannot be determined by the method of inspection.
 It cannot be used when dealing with qualitative characteristics, such as intelligence, honesty,
beauty.
 It can be a number which does not exist in a serious.
 Sometimes it leads to wrong conclusion if the details of the data from which it is obtained are
not available.
 It gives high weight to high extreme values and less weight to low extreme values.

The Geometric Mean

 The geometric mean of a set of n observation is the nth root of their product.
 The geometric mean of X1, X2 ,X3 …Xn is denoted by G.M and given by:

G.M  n X1 * X2 * ... * Xn
 Taking the logarithms of both sides.
1
log(G.M)  log(n X 1 * X 2 * ... * X n )  log(X 1 * X 2 * ... * X n ) n
1 1
 log(G.M)  log(X 1 * X 2 * .... * X n )  (log X 1  log X 2  ...  log X n )
n n
1 n
 log(G.M)   log X i
n i1

11
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

 The logarithm of the G.M of a set of observation is the arithmetic mean of their
logarithm.
1 n
 G.M  Anti log(  log X i )
n i1
Example:
Find the G.M of the numbers 2, 4, 8.
Solutions:
G.M  n X1 * X2 * ... * Xn  3 2 * 4 * 8  3 64  4
Remark: The Geometric Mean is useful and appropriate for finding averages of ratios.

The Harmonic Mean

The harmonic mean of X1, X2, and X3 …Xn is denoted by H.M and given by:
n
H.M  n , This is called simple harmonic mean.
1

i 1 X i

In a case of frequency distribution:

k

H.M  k
n , n   fi
fi

i 1

i 1 X i

If observations X1, X2… Xn have weights W1, W2 …Wn respectively, then their harmonic mean
is given by
n

W i
, This is called Weighted Harmonic Mean.
H.M  n
i 1

W
i 1
i Xi

Remark: The Harmonic Mean is useful and appropriate in finding average speeds and average
rates.
Example: A cyclist pedals from his house to his college at speed of 10 km/hr and back from the
college to his house at 15 km/hr. Find the average speed.
Solution: Here the distance is constant

The simple H.M is appropriate for this problem.

X1= 10km/hr X2=15km/hr
2
H.M   12km/hr
1 1

10 15

The Mode
- Mode is a value which occurs most frequently in a set of values
- The mode may not exist and even if it does exist, it may not be unique.
- In case of discrete distribution the value having the maximum frequency is the model value.

12
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Examples:
1. The data of white-blood cells counts taken on admission of all patients entering a
small hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on a given day. Compute the mode
white-blood cells count. 3000, 5000, 7000, 8000, 8000, 9000, 10000, 12000, 35000
The mode is 8000 because it occurs more frequently than any other white-blood
cells count. It is unimodal.

2. This data is the sample of birth weight (g) of live-born infants in ayder referral
hospital per week. n=20
3031, 3101, 3200, 3245, 3248, 3260, 3265, 3314, 3323, 3484, 3541, 3609, 3649, 4146

2069, 2581, 2759,2834,2838,2841. There is no mode, because all the values occur exactly
once.

- The mode of a set of numbers X1, X2, …, Xn is usually denoted by X̂ .

Mode for Grouped data
If data are given in the shape of continuous frequency distribution, the mode is defined as:
 1 
X̂  L mo  w 
 1  2
 

Where:
Xˆ  the mod e of the distribution
w  the sizeof the mod al class
1  f mo  f1
 2  f mo  f 2
f mo  frequencyof the mod al class
f1  frequencyof the class preceedingthe mod al class
f 2  frequencyof the class followingthe mod al class
Note: The modal class is a class with the highest frequency.
Example: Following is the distribution of the size of certain farms selected at random from a
district.

Calculate the mode of the distribution.

Size of farms No. of farms
5-15 8
15-25 12
25-35 17
35-45 29
45-55 31
55-65 5
65-75 3

13
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Solutions:
45  55 is the mod al class,sin ce it is a class with thehighestfrequency.
L mo  45
w  10
 1  f mo  f 1  2
 2  f mo  f 2  26
f mo  31
f 1  29
f2  5
ˆ  45  10 2 
X
 2  26 
 45.71
Merits and Demerits of Mode
Merits:
 It is not affected by extreme observations.
 Easy to calculate and simple to understand.
 It can be calculated for distribution with open end class
Demerits:
 It is not rigidly defined.
 It is not based on all observations
 It is not suitable for further mathematical treatment.
 It is not stable average, i.e. it is affected by fluctuations of sampling to some
extent.
 Often its value is not unique.
Note: being the point of maximum density, mode is especially useful in finding the most popular
size in studies relating to marketing, trade, business, and industry. It is the appropriate average to
be used to find the ideal size.
The Median
- In a distribution, median is the value of the variable which divides it in to two equal halves.
- In an ordered series of data median is an observation lying exactly in the middle of the series. It is the
middle most value in the sense that the number of values less than the median is equal to the number
of values greater than it.
-If X1, X2 …Xn be the observations, then the numbers arranged in ascending order will be X [1], X [2]
…X[n], where X[i] is ith smallest value.
 X[1]< X[2]< …<X[n]
~
-Median is denoted by X .
Median for ungrouped data

 X ( n1) 2  ,If n is odd.

~ 1
X   (X  X ), If n is even
 2  n 2  ( n 2 )  1



14
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Example: A researcher studying mouse behavior recorded in Table 3 the time (in seconds) it took
13 different mice to locate food in a maze.
Table 3. Length of Time for Mice to Locate Food in a Maze

Mouse No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Time (sec.) 31 33 163 33 28 29 33 27 27 34 35 28 32

Find the median Length of Time for Mice to Locate Food in a Maze?
1. Case one inspection method:

To determine the median time that the mice spent searching for food, follow these steps:
Solutions:
I. Arrange the time values in numerical order from lowest to highest:
27, 27, 28, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 33, 33, 34, 35, 163
II. Find the middle value. This value is the median:
Median = 32 seconds
In this case, the median is 32 seconds, but the mean is 41 seconds, which is longer than all but
one of the mice took to search for food. In this case, the mean would not be a good measure of
central tendency unless the really slow mouse is excluded from the data set.
2. Case two computational method
First order the data: 27, 27, 28, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 33, 33, 34, 35, and 163

~
Here n=13 X = )th since n=13 is odd
th
(13+1)/2=7 observation is median=32 seconds.

Exercise: this data is the sample of birth weight (g) of live-born infants in ayder referral hospital
per week. n=20
3031, 3101, 3200, 3245, 3248, 3260, 3265, 3314, 3323, 3484, 3541, 3609, 3649, 4146

2069, 2581, 2759, 2834, 2838, 2841. Find the median value?
Median for grouped data If data are given in the shape of continuous frequency distribution,
the median is defined as:
~ w n
X  L med  (  c)
f med 2
Where :
L med  lower class boundary of the median class.
w  the size of the median class
n  total number of observations.
c  the cumulativefrequency( less than type) preceeding the median class.
f med  thefrequency of the median class.

15
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Remark: The median class is the class with the smallest cumulative frequency (less than type) greater
n
than or equal to .
2
Example: Find the median of the following distribution.

Class Frequency
40-44 7
45-49 10
50-54 22
55-59 15
60-64 12
65-69 6
70-74 3
Solutions:
 First find the less than cumulative frequency.
 Identify the median class.
 Find median using formula.

Class Frequency Cumu.Freq(less

than type)
40-44 7 7
45-49 10 17
50-54 22 39
55-59 15 54
60-64 12 66
65-69 6 72
70-74 3 75
n 75
  37.5
2 2
39 is the first cumulative frequencyto be greater thanor equalto 37.5
 50  54 is the median class.

L  49.5, w  5
med
n  75, c  17, f  22
med
~
 X L
w ( n  c)

med
f 2
med
 49.5  5 (37.5  17)
22
 54.16

16
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Merits and Demerits of Median

Merits:
 Median is a positional average and hence not influenced by extreme observations.
 Can be calculated in the case of open end intervals.
 Median can be located even if the data are incomplete.
Demerits:
 It is not a good representative of data if the number of items is small.
 It is not amenable to further algebraic treatment.
 It is susceptible to sampling fluctuations.

Exercise: The following cholesterol levels of 10 people were measured in mg/dl: {260, 150, 165,
201, 212, 243, 219, 227, 210, and 240}. For this sample:
a. Calculate the mode, mean and median.

SELECTING THE APPROPRIATE MEASURE

Mean is generally considered the best measure of central tendency and the most frequently used
one. However, there are some situations where the other measures of central tendency are
preferred.
Median is preferred to mean, when

1. There are few extreme scores in the distribution.

2. Some scores have undetermined values.
3. There is an open ended distribution.
4. Data are measured in an ordinal scale.
5. Mode is the preferred measure when data are measured in a nominal scale. Geometric
mean is the preferred measure of central tendency when data are measured in a
logarithmic scale.

Quantiles

When a distribution is arranged in order of magnitude of items, the median is the value of the middle
term. Their measures that depend up on their positions in distribution quartiles, deciles, and percentiles
are collectively called quantiles.
Quartiles:
- Quartiles are measures that divide the frequency distribution in to four equal parts.
- The value of the variables corresponding to these divisions are denoted Q1, Q2, and Q3 often
called the first, the second and the third quartile respectively.

17
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

- Q1 is a value which has 25% items which are less than or equal to it. Similarly Q2 has
50%items with value less than or equal to it and Q3 has 75% items whose values are less than
or equal to it.

Calculating quartiles for raw data

 To calculate the three quartiles from the raw data, we must arranged the data from
least to highest 1st if the data are arranged in increasing order ,then

Qi  i
4 (n  1) th value, i  1,2,3, then
Q1  1 (n  1) th vlaue
4
Q2  2 (n  1) th vlaue Q3  3 (n  1)th vlaue ,
4 4
where n is number of observations.

E.g. the following data shows the age of 30 sampled patients in JUSH
6,9,11,14,16,17,18,21,22,22,22,22,23,25,25,26,27,28,28,32,33,34,34,36,39,39,41,45,46,49 find
the lower middle and upper quartiles for the above data.
Solution:
1st order the data (if it hasn’t been ordered)
6,9,11,14,16,17,18,21,22,22,22,22,23,25,25,26,27,28,28,32,33,34,34,36,39,39,41,45,46,49
n =30, Q1= 1 4 (n  1) th value = 1 4 (30  1) th value = 7.75th value =7th value +0.75(8th value -7th value)
18+0.75(21-18) = 18+2.25 =20.25
This implies one fourth of the patients (25%) age are below 20.5 years.

Q1 
2
4 (n  1) th value 
2
4 (30  1) th value  2(7.75) th value  15.5th value
 15th value  0.5(16th value  15th value)  25  0.5(26  25)  25.5

This implies that half (50%) of the patients age is below 25.5 years.
Calculating quartiles for grouped data: To find Qi (i=1, 2, 3) from grouped frequency
in
distribution, we count of the classes beginning from the lowest class. So to calculate the
4
deciles We have the following formula,

18
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

w in
Q
i  LQi  f ( 4  c) ,i  1,2,3
Qi
Where :
L  lower class boundary of the quartile class.
Qi
w  the size of the quartile class
n  total number of observations.
c  the cumulative frequency (less than type) preceeding the quartile class.
f  thefrequency of the quartile class.
Qi

Remark: The quartile class (class containing Qi) is the class with the smallest cumulative
in
frequency (less than type) greater than or equal to .
4
Deciles:
- Deciles are measures that divide the frequency distribution in to ten equal parts.
- The values of the variables corresponding to these divisions are denoted D1, D2,.. , D9 often
called the first, the second,…, the ninth deciles respectively.

Calculating Deciles for raw data

 To calculate the nine deciles from the raw data, we must arranged the data from least
to highest 1st if the data are not arranged in increasing order ,then

Di  i
10 (n  1)th value, i  1,2,3,.... 9then
D1  1 (n  1)th vlaue
10
D2  2 (n  1) th vlaue
10
D3  3 (n  1)th vlaue
10
.
.
D9  9 (n  1)th vlaue, where n is number of observations.
10

19
Abera M.
 MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Calculating Deciles For grouped data:

in
- To find Di (i=1, 2,..,9) We count of the classes beginning from the lowest class. we have
10
the following formula
w iN
Di  LD i  (  c) , i  1,2,...,9
f Di 10
Where :
LDi  lower class boundaryof the decile class.
w  the size of the decileclass
n  total number of observations.
c  the cumulative frequency(less thantype) preceedingthe decile class.
f Di  thefrequency of the decile class.

Remark:
The decile class (class containing Di) is the class with the smallest cumulative frequency (less than
in
type) greater than or equal to .
10
Percentiles:
- Percentiles are measures that divide the frequency distribution in to hundred equal parts.
- The values of the variables corresponding to these divisions are denoted P1, P2,.. P99 often
called the first, the second,…, the ninety-ninth percentile respectively.
- To calculate the nine deciles from the raw data, we must arranged the data from least to
highest 1st if the data are not arranged in increasing order ,then

pi  i
100 (n  1)th value, i  1,2,3,.... 9then
p2  2 (n  1) th vlaue
p1  1 (n  1)th vlaue 100
100
p3  3 (n  1)th vlaue
100
.
.
p99  99 (n  1)th vlaue , where n is number of observations.
100

in
Calculating For grouped data: To find Pi (i=1, 2... 99) we count of the classes beginning
100
from the lowest class. We have the following formula

20
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

w in
Pi  LPi  (  c) , i  1,2,...,99
f Pi 100
Where :
LPi  lower class boundaryof the percentile class.
w  the size of the percentile class
N  total number of observations.
c  the cumulative frequency(less than type) preceedingthe percentile class.
f Pi  thefrequency of the percentileclass.

Remark: The percentile class (class containing Pi) is the class with the smallest
in
cumulative frequency (less than type) greater than or equal to .
100
Example: Considering the following distribution for cholesterol levels of 493 people were
measured in mg/dl.
Calculate:
a) All quartiles.
b) The 7th decile.
c) The 90th percentile.
Values Frequency
140- 150 17
150- 160 29
160- 170 42
170- 180 72
180- 190 84
190- 200 107
200- 210 49
210- 220 34
220- 230 31
230- 240 16
240- 250 12

Solutions:
 First find the less than cumulative frequency.
 Use the formula to calculate the required quantile.

21
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

Values Frequency Cum.Freq(less

than type)
140- 150 17 17
150- 160 29 46
160- 170 42 88
170- 180 72 160
180- 190 84 244
190- 200 107 351
200- 210 49 400
210- 220 34 434
220- 230 31 465
230- 240 16 481
240- 250 12 493
a. Quartiles:
i. Q1
- determine the class containing the first quartile.
n
 123.25
4
 170  180 is the class containingthe first quartile.
w n
 Q1  LQ 1  (  c)
f Q1 4
LQ1  170 , w 10
10
n  493 , c  88 , f Q1  72  170  (123.25  88)
72
 174.90

ii. Q2
- determine the class containing the second quartile.
2*n
 246.5
4
 190  200 is the class containingthesecond quartile.

LQ2  190 , w 10

n  493 , c  244 , f Q2 107

22
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

w 2*n
 Q2  LQ2  (  c)
f Q2 4
10
 170  (246.5  244)
72
 190.23

iii. Q3
- determine the class containing the third quartile.
3* n
 369.75
4
 200  210 is the class containingthethird quartile.

LQ3  200 , w 10

n  493 , c  351 , f Q3  49

w 3* n
 Q3  LQ 3  (  c)
f Q3 4
10
 200  (369.75  351)
49
 203.83

b. D7
- determine the class containing the 7th decile.
7*n
 345.1
10
190  200 is the class containingthe seventh decile.
LD7  190 , w 10
n  493 , c  244 , f D7 107

w 7*n
 D7  LD7  (  c)
f D7 10
10
 190  (345.1  244)
107
 199.45

c. P90, determine the class containing the 90th percentile.

23
Abera M.
MEASURES OF CENTERAL TENDENCY

90 * n
 443.7
100
 220  230 is the class containingthe90th percentile.
LP90  220, w 10
n  493 , c  434 , f P90  31

w 90 * n
 P90  LP9 0  (  c)
f P9 0 100
10
 220  ( 443.7  434)
31
 223.13

24
Abera M.