3 (ii) Mean , Median and Mode

The three measures of central tendencies are mean, median and mode. Mean = fx f = 697.5 25 = 27.9 = 28

Median = L + (N 2 F) fm x C L N F Fm C Lower boundary of the median class Total number of observations ( f ) Cumulative frequency until point L Frequency of the median class Size of the median class

L = 10.5 , F = 3 , fm = 9 , C = 20.5 10.5 = 10 Median = 10.5 + (25 2 11) 9 x 10 = 21

Mode = L + ( d1 ( d1 + d2 ) ) x C L = Lower boundary of the modal class d1 = Difference between the frequency of the modal class and the immediately preceding it d2 = Difference between the frequency of the modal class and the class immediately after it C = Size of the modal class

L = 10.5 , d1 = 9 3 = 6 , d2 = 9 4 = 5 , C = 10 Mode = 10.5 + ( 6 ( 6 + 5 ) ) x 10 = 16

Discussion

The mean of marks is 28. This value is not a good representive for the set of data collected. The calculation for the mean involves all the data collected. Thus, the mean is not suitable for data set with extreme values. Extreme values are those values which are very big or very small compared to the other data.

The mode calculated is 16. It means this value occurs most frequently. The median for the data is 21. Median is the middle value when a set of data is arranged in order of magnitude. Therefore, median divides the information into two equal parts, one part lesser than median and the other more than the median. So median is used to find the students who score less or more than the middle value.

In this case, the median is more suitable in representing the data as it is not influenced by the extreme values.

Range

Range of a frequency distribution is defined as the difference between the midpoint of the highest class and the midpoint of the lowest point. Range = Midpoint of the highest class Midpoint of the lowest class

Solution Midpoint of the lowest class = ( 1 + 10 ) 2 = 5.5 Midpoint of the highest class = ( 61 + 70 ) 2 = 65.5

Range = 65.5 5.5 = 60

The range calculated only involves two values, the biggest value and the smallest value. It describe the spread of the data. According to the value obtained, we know that the data is scattered widely apart but it does not show how the data is distributed between these two values. The value of range does not give an accurate picture of the distribution of data.

Standard Deviation

Mean = 697.5 25 = 27.9

Standard deviation = 88 542.75 25 27.92 = 52.56

The mean and standard deviation of the above data are 27.9 and 52.56 respectively. The value of standard deviation is large. It means the degree of dispersion of all data from the mean big. That means there are students who are very good in Addmaths and also the are students who are very weak in this subject.