Numerical Descriptive Statistics

 Measures of central tendency are statistical measures

which describe the position of a distribution.
 They are also called statistics of location, and are the
complement of statistics of dispersion, which provide
information concerning the variance or distribution of
observations.
 In the univariate context, the mean, median and mode
are the most commonly used measures of central
tendency.
 computable values on a distribution that discuss the
behavior of the center of a distribution.
 Measures of Central
Tendency
• The value or the figure which represents the whole
series is neither the lowest value in the series nor the
highest it lies somewhere between these two extremes.
•The average represents all the measurements made on a
group, and gives a concise description of the group as a
whole.
•When two are more groups are measured, the central
tendency provides the basis of comparison between
them.
 Characteristics of a good average

• 1. It should be simple to understand.

• 2. It should be easy to compute.
• 3. It should be rigidly defined.
• 4. It should be based on each and every item of the
distribution.
• 5. It should be amenable to further algebraic treatment.
• 6. It should have sampling stability.
• 7. Extreme items should not unduly affect it.
 Definition
• Simpson and Kafka defined it as “ A measure of
central tendency is a typical value around which other
figures congregate” Waugh has expressed “An
average stand for the whole group of which it forms a
part yet represents the whole”.
•Common Measures of Central Tendency are the :
– Mean
– Median
– Mode
– Geometric mean
– Harmonic mean
– Percentiles
– Quartiles
 Arithmetic Mean
Arithmetic mean is a mathematical
average and it is the most popular
measures of central tendency. It is
frequently referred to as ‘mean’ it is obtained
by dividing sum of the values of all
observations in a series (ƩX) by the number
of items (N) constituting the series.
Thus, mean of a set of numbers X1, X2,
X3,………..Xn denoted by x̅ and is defined
as
 Characteristics of the
Mean
The arithmetic mean is the most widely used measure
of location. It requires the interval scale. Its major
characteristics are:
– All values are used.
– It is unique.
– The sum of the deviations from the mean is 0.
– It is calculated by summing the values and dividing
by the number of values.
Properties of the Arithmetic
Mean
• Every set of interval-level and ratio-level
data has a mean.
• All the values are included in computing
the mean.
• A set of data has a unique mean.
• The mean is affected by unusually large or
small data values.
• The arithmetic mean is the only measure of
central tendency where the sum of the
deviations of each value from the mean is
zero.
 Population Mean
• For ungrouped data, the population mean
is the sum of all the population values
divided by the total number of population
values.

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 Sample Mean

• For ungrouped data, the sample mean is

the sum of all the sample values divided by
the number of sample values:

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 Sample Mean

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Arithmetic Mean Calculated Methods :
• Direct Method :

• Short cut method :

• Step deviation Method :

 Example : Calculated the Arithmetic Mean DIRC Monthly
Users Statistics in the University Library

Month No. of Working Total Users Average Users per

Days month
Sep-2011 24 11618 484.08
Oct-2011 21 8857 421.76
Nov-2011 23 11459 498.22
Dec-2011 25 8841 353.64
Jan-2012 24 5478 228.25
Feb-2012 23 10811 470.04
Total 140 57064
= 407.6
 Arithmetic Mean for grouped data

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 Arithmetic Mean for grouped data
Determine the arithmetic
mean vehicle selling price.

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 The Arithmetic Mean of Grouped Data -
Example

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARITHMETIC MEAN
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARITHMETIC MEAN
 Advantages of Mean:
• It is easy to understand & simple calculate.
• It is based on all the values.
• It is rigidly defined .
• It is easy to understand the arithmetic average even
if some of the details of the data are lacking.
• It is not based on the position in the series.
 Disadvantages of Mean:
• It is affected by extreme values.
• It cannot be calculated for open end classes.
• It cannot be located graphically
• It gives misleading conclusions.
• It has upward bias.
 Weighted Mean

• The weighted mean of a set of numbers X1,

X2, ..., Xn, with corresponding weights w1,
w2, ...,wn, is computed from the following
formula:

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 EXAMPLE – Weighted Mean

The Carter Construction Company pays its

hourly employees $16.50, $19.00,
or $25.00 per hour. There are 26 hourly
employees, 14 of which are paid at the
$16.50 rate, 10 at the $19.00 rate, and 2 at
the $25.00 rate. What is the mean
hourly rate paid the 26 employees?

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 Problem

• An investor is fond of investing in equity shares. During a

period of falling prices in the stock exchange, a stock is sold at
Rs 120 per share on one day, Rs 105 on the next and Rs 90 on
the third day. The investor has purchased 50 shares on the
first day, 80 shares on the second day and 100 shares on the
third' day. What average price per share did the investor pay?
 The Median
• The Median is the midpoint of the
values after they have been ordered
from the smallest to the largest.
– There are as many values above
the median as below it in the data
array.
– For an even set of values, the
median will be the arithmetic
average of the two middle
24 numbers.
 Properties of the Median
• There is a unique median for each data set.
• It is not affected by extremely large or small values and is
therefore a valuable measure of central tendency when such
values occur.
• It can be computed for ratio-level, interval-level, and
ordinal-level data.
• It can be computed for an open-ended frequency
distribution if the median does not lie in an open-ended
class.

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 EXAMPLES - Median

The ages for a sample of five The heights of four basketball

players, in inches, are:
college students are: 76, 73, 80, 75
21, 25, 19, 20, 22
Arranging the data in ascending
order gives:
Arranging the data in
73, 75, 76, 80.
ascending order gives: 9,
20, 21, 22, 25. Thus the median is 75.5

Thus the median is 21.

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Calculation of Median –Discrete series :

i.Arrange the data in ascending or descending order.

ii.Calculate the cumulative frequencies.

iii.Apply the formula.

Calculation of median – Continuous series

For calculation of median in a continuous frequency

distribution the following formula will be employed.
Algebraically,
 Example: Median of a set Grouped Data in a
Distribution of Respondents by age

Age Group Frequency of Cumulative

Median class(f) frequencies(cf)
0-20 15 15
20-40 32 47
40-60 54 101
60-80 30 131
80-100 19 150
Total 150
Median (M)=40+

= 40+

= 40+0.52X20
= 40+10.37
= 50.37
Median Calculation from Graph
Median Calculation from Graph
Median Calculation from Graph
Median Calculation from Graph
Median
 Advantages of Median:
•Median can be calculated in all distributions.

•Median can be understood even by common people.

•Median can be ascertained even with the extreme items.

•It can be located graphically

•It is most useful dealing with qualitative data

 Disadvantages of Median:
• It is not based on all the values.
• It is not capable of further mathematical treatment.
• It is affected fluctuation of sampling.
• In case of even no. of values it may not the value
from the data.
 The Mode
• The mode is the value of the observation that
appears most frequently. Example:

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 Example - Mode

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Example: Calculate Mode for the distribution of monthly
rent Paid by Libraries in Karnataka

Monthly rent (Rs) Number of Libraries (f)

500-1000 5
1000-1500 10
1500-2000 8
2000-2500 16
2500-3000 14
3000 & Above 12
Total 65
Z=2000+

Z =2000+

Z=2000+0.8 ×500=400
Z=2400
 Advantages of Mode :

• Mode is readily comprehensible and

easily calculated
• It is the best representative of data
• It is not at all affected by extreme value.
• The value of mode can also be
determined graphically.
• It is usually an actual value of an
important part of the series.
 Disadvantages of Mode :

• It is not based on all observations.

• It is not capable of further mathematical
manipulation.
• Mode is affected to a great extent by sampling
fluctuations.
• Choice of grouping has great influence on the value
of mode.
RELATIONSHIPS OF THE MEAN, MEDIAN AND MODE
RELATIONSHIPS OF THE MEAN, MEDIAN AND MODE
RELATIONSHIPS OF THE MEAN, MEDIAN AND MODE
 The Relative Positions of the Mean, Median
and the Mode

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 The Geometric Mean
• Useful in finding the average change of percentages, ratios,
indexes, or growth rates over time.
• It has a wide application in business and economics because we
are often interested in finding the percentage changes in sales,
salaries, or economic figures, such as the GDP, which compound
or build on each other.
• The geometric mean will always be less than or equal to the
arithmetic mean.
• The geometric mean of a set of n positive numbers is defined as
the nth root of the product of n values.
• The formula for the geometric mean is written:

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Geometric Mean for Grouped data
Geometric Mean
Geometric Mean
 ADVANTAGES OF G. M.
1. Geometric mean is based on each and every observation in the data set.

2. It is rigidly defined.

3. It is more suitable while averaging ratios and percentages as also in calculating

growth rates.

4. As compared to the arithmetic mean, it gives more weight to small values and
less weight to large values. As a result of this characteristic of the geometric
mean, it is generally less than the arithmetic mean. At times it may be equal
to the arithmetic mean.

5. It is capable of algebraic manipulation. If the geometric mean has two or more

series is known along with their respective frequencies. Then a combined
geometric mean can be calculated by using the logarithms.
 LIMITATIONS OF G.M.

1. As compared to the arithmetic mean, geometric mean is

difficult to understand.

2. Both computation of the geometric mean and its

interpretation are rather difficult.

3. When there is a negative item in a series or one or more

observations have zero value, then the geometric mean
cannot be calculated.
HARMONIC MEAN
 Advantage of the harmonic mean

• It is that it is based on all observations in a distribution and is

amenable to further algebraic treatment.
• When we desire to give greater weight to smaller observations
and less weight to the larger observations, then the use of
harmonic mean will be more suitable.
 limitations of the harmonic mean:
• it is difficult to understand as well as difficult to compute.
• it cannot be calculated if any of the observations is
• zero or negative.
• it is only a summary figure, which may not be an actual
• observation in the distribution.
• harmonic mean is always lower than the geometric mean,
which is lower than the arithmetic mean. This is because the
harmonic mean assigns lesser importance to higher values.
Since the harmonic mean is based on reciprocals,
• it becomes clear that as reciprocals of higher values are lower
than those of lower values, it is a lower average than the
arithmetic mean as well as the geometric mean.
Problem
QUADRATIC MEAN
Problem