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Describe the requisite characteristics of measure of central location Define the various Ms of central tendency State the properties

es of mean, median, and mode List the merits and demerits of various Ms of central tendency Compute the relationship between mean, median and mode

It should be easily calculated. It should be rigidly defined. It should have sampling stability. It should be affected as little as possible by sampling fluctuations. It should be based on all observations. It should be readily comprehensible.

To present huge mass of data To facilitate comparison To help in decision making

The sum of the deviations from the mean will always equal to zero. Arithmetic mean is very sensitive to extreme values. The sum of the squares of the deviations about the mean is minimum.

A) When Individual observations are given n


a)Direct method

X=

x
i= 1

b)Short-cut method Let M be any assumed mean. We subtract M from every observation. The difference between an observation and M, i.e is called the deviation of ith observation from M and is denoted by . Thus,
d1= x1 M , d 1 = x1 M ,........d n = xn M

B) When data are in the form of an ungrouped frequency distribution

Merits: Arithmetic mean is rigidly defined by an algebraic formula. Calculation of Arithmetic mean requires simple knowledge of addition, multiplication and division of numbers and hence, is easy to calculate. It is least affected by the fluctuations of sampling. It provides a good basis for the comparison of two or more distribution.

Demerits: Arithmetic mean cannot be computed from qualitative data; like love, safety, status etc. The value of mean obtained for a data may not be an observation of the data and as such it is called a fictitious average. Simple arithmetic mean gives greater importance to larger values and lesser importance to smaller values.

It is used to construct index number It provides large weights for small observations It provides small weight for large observations It measures the growth of the population

MERITS G.M is based on all the observations of a series. It is not much affected by fluctuation in sampling. It is capable of algebraic manipulation.

DEMERITS It is comparatively difficult to understand and calculate. It doesnt give equal weight to every item.

MERITS It is based on all the observations. The demerits of H.M is as follows: It is difficult to understand and calculate

Median of distribution is that value of the variate which divides it into two equal parts. The median is simply the middle point of a set of values or scores. It is the point, in a set of values, at which one half of the scores fall above and one half falls below. The median is a midpoint observation.

A) When individual observations are given

B) When ungrouped frequency distribution is given The cumulative frequency is computed and the median is determined in a manner similar to that of individual observations

1) It is a positional average. 2) It can be shown that the sum of absolute deviations is minimum when taken from median. This property indicates that median is centrally located.

It is easily calculated and exactly located. It can be identified without the necessity of measuring all the objects in cases objects are arranged in order of magnitude. Median is not influenced by abnormally large or small values of the variable. By introducing few more items, the size of the median can not be changed greatly. The median is extremely useful in the study of intangible factors like honesty, intelligence, etc. Median can also be located graphically.

In case of individual observations, the process of location of median requires their arrangement in the order of magnitude which may be troublesome task, particularly when the number of observations is very large. Median is not based on the magnitude of all the observations. There may be a situation where different sets of observations give same value of median.

The mode can be defined as the most frequently occurring value in the data.

Mode in the inspection method Mode in the grouped data


It

is easy to calculate. In many cases, it can be identified just by inspection. It can be located in situations where the variable is not measurable but categorization is possible. Like mean and median, it is not influenced by extreme observations. It can be calculated even if these extreme observations are not known. It can be identified even when the class intervals are of unequal width provided that the width of modal and that of its preceding and following classes are equal.

It is not depended on all the observations. It is not capable of further mathematical analysis. In certain situations, mode is not rigidly defined and hence, the important requisite of a good measure of central tendency is not satisfied. It is mostly affected by the fluctuations of sampling. It is not suitable when different items of the data are of unequal importance.

Mode=3(Median) -2(Mean)

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