CHAPTER - 2

2. Summarization of Data
2.1 Measures of Central Tendency
The most important objective of a statistical analysis is to determine a single value for the entire
mass of data, which describes the overall level of the group of observations and can be called a
representative of the whole set of data. It tells us where the center of the distribution of data is
located. The most commonly used measures of central tendencies are :
 The Mean (Arithmetic mean, Weighted mean, Geometric mean and Harmonic means)
 The Mode
 The Median

The Summation Notation:

 Let 𝑋1 , 𝑋2 , … , 𝑋𝑁 be the number of measurements where 𝑁 is the total number of
observation and 𝑋𝑖 , is the ith observation.
 Very often in statistics an algebraic expression of the form 𝑋1 + 𝑋2 + ⋯ + 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 𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 is a mathematical shorthand for 𝑋1 + 𝑋2 + ⋯ + 𝑋𝑁 .
𝑵
𝑇𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝒊=𝟏 𝑿𝒊 = 𝑿𝟏 + 𝑿𝟐 + ⋯ + 𝑿𝑵 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.
𝒏
𝒊=𝟏 𝑿𝒊 = 𝑿𝟏 + 𝑿𝟐 + ⋯ + 𝑿𝒏 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠.
Example: Suppose the following were scores (marks) made on the first assignment for
five students in the class: 5, 7, 7, 6, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 8. Write their marks using summation notation.
5
Solution: 𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 = 𝑋1 + 𝑋2 + ⋯ + 𝑋5 = 5 + 7 + 7 + 6 + 8 = 33
Properties of summation
𝑛
1. 𝑖=1 𝑐 = 𝑛𝑐 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑐.
𝑛 𝑛
2. 𝑖=1 𝑐𝑋𝑖 =𝑐 𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖
𝑛 𝑛
3. 𝑖=1(𝑋𝑖 ± 𝑐) = 𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 ± 𝑛𝑐
𝑛 𝑛 𝑛
4. 𝑖=1(𝑌𝑖 +𝑋𝑖 ) = 𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 + 𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖
𝑛
5. 𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 𝑌𝑖 = 𝑋1 𝑌1 + 𝑋2 𝑌2 + ⋯ + 𝑋𝑛 𝑌𝑛
𝑛(𝑛 +1)
6. 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ⋯+ 𝑛 = 2
2 2 2 2 𝑛 𝑛 +1 (2𝑛+1)
7. 1 + 2 +3 + ⋯ + 𝑛 = 6

2.2 Types of Measure of Central Tendency

2.2.1 The Mean
2.2.1.1 Arithmetic mean
The arithmetic mean of a sample is the sum of all observations divided by the number of
observations in the sample. i.e.
𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆
𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 = 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆

Suppose that 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛 are n observed values in a sample of size n taken from a population
of size N. Then the arithmetic mean of the sample, denoted by 𝑥, is given by

Page 1
 𝒏
𝑿𝟏 +𝑿𝟐 +⋯+𝑿𝒏 𝒊=𝟏 𝑿𝒊
𝑿= = → 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬.
𝐧 𝒏

If we take an entire population, the population mean denoted by µ is given by

𝑵
𝑿𝟏 +𝑿𝟐 +⋯+𝑿𝑵 𝒊=𝟏 𝑿𝒊
µ= = → 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
𝐍 𝑵

In general, the sample arithmetic mean is calculated by

𝒏 𝑿𝒊
𝒊=𝟏 𝒏 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑑𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑎
𝒌 𝒇𝒊 𝑿𝒊
𝑿= 𝒊=𝟏 𝒇 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖 = 𝑛.
𝒊
𝒌 𝑴𝒊 𝑿𝒊
𝒊=𝟏 𝒇 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖 = 𝑛.
𝒊

Example 1: The net weights of five perfume bottles selected at random from the production
line 𝑎𝑟𝑒 85.4, 85.3, 84.9, 85.4 𝑎𝑛𝑑 85. What is the arithmetic mean weight of the sample
observation?
Solution; 𝐺𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑛 = 5 𝑥1 = 85.4, 𝑥2 = 85.3, 𝑥3 = 84.9, 𝑥4 = 85.4 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥5 = 85.
𝑛
𝑖=1 𝑋 𝑖 85.4+85.3+84.9+85.4+ 85 426.6
𝑋= = = = 85.32.
𝑛 5 5

Example 2: Calculate the mean of the marks of 46 students given below;

Marks (𝑋𝑖 ) 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Frequency (𝑓𝑖 ) 1 2 3 6 10 11 7 3 2 1

Solution: 𝑓𝑖 = 𝑛 = 46 is the sum of the frequencies or total number of observations.

𝑘
To calculate 𝑖=1 𝒇𝒊 𝑿𝒊 consider the following table.

𝑋𝑖 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total
𝑓𝑖 1 2 3 6 10 11 7 3 2 1 46
𝒇𝒊 𝑿 𝒊 9 20 33 72 130 154 105 48 34 18 623

𝒌 𝒇𝒊 𝑿𝒊 623
So 𝑋= 𝒊=𝟏 𝒇 = = 13.54.
𝒊 46

Example 3: The net income of a sample of large importers of Urea was organized into the
following table. What is the arithmetic mean of net income?

Net income 2-4 5-7 8-10 11-13 14-16

Number of importers 1 4 10 3 2

Solution: 𝑓𝑖 = 𝑛 = 20 is the sum of the frequencies or total number of observations.

𝑘
To calculate 𝑖=1 𝒇𝒊 𝒎𝒊 consider the following table.

Net income (CI) 2-4 5-7 8-10 11-13 14-16 Total

Number of importers (𝑓𝑖 ) 1 4 10 3 2 20
Class marks (𝑚𝑖 ) 3 6 9 12 15
𝒇𝒊 𝒎𝒊 3 24 90 36 30 183

𝒌 𝒇𝒊 𝒎 𝒊 𝟏𝟖𝟑
So 𝑋= 𝒊=𝟏 = = 𝟗. 𝟏𝟓.
𝒇𝒊 𝟐𝟎

Example 4: From the following data, calculate the missing frequency? The mean number of
tablets to cure ever was 29.18.

Number of tablets 19 − 21 22 − 24 25 − 27 28 − 30 31 − 33 34 − 36 37 − 39
Number of persons cured 6 13 19 𝑓4 18 12 9

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 Solution; 𝑓𝑖 = 𝑛 = 77 + 𝑓4 is the sum of the frequencies or total number of observations.
𝑘
To calculate 𝑖=1 𝒇𝒊 𝒎𝒊 consider the following table.

CI 19 − 21 22 − 24 25 − 27 28 − 30 31 − 33 34 − 36 37 − 39 Total
𝒇𝒊 6 13 19 𝑓4 18 12 9 77+𝑓4
𝒎𝒊 20 23 26 29 32 35 38
𝒇𝒊 𝒎𝒊 120 299 494 29𝑓4 576 420 342 2251 + 29𝑓4

𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 29.18 𝑤𝑒 𝑕𝑎𝑣𝑒

𝑘
𝑓𝑖 𝑚𝑖 2251 + 29𝑓4
𝑋= =≫ 29.18 = =≫ 29.18 77+𝑓4 = 2251 + 29𝑓4
𝑓𝑖 77+𝑓4
𝑖=1
4.14
=≫ 29.18𝑓4 − 29𝑓4 = 2251 − 2246.86 =≫ 0.18𝑓4 = 4.14 =≫ 𝑓4 = 0.18 = 23.
Combined mean
If we have an arithmetic means 𝑋1 , 𝑋2 , … , 𝑋𝑛 of n groups having the same unit of measurement
of a variable, with sizes 𝑛1 , 𝑛2 , … , 𝑛𝑛 observations respectively, we can compute the combined
mean of the variant values of the groups taken together from the individual means by
𝒏
𝒏𝟏 𝒙𝟏 +𝒏𝟐 𝒙𝟐 +⋯+𝒏𝒏 𝒙𝒏 𝒊=𝟏 𝒏𝒊 𝒙𝒊
𝑿𝒄𝒐𝒎 = = 𝒏 𝒏
𝒏𝟏 +𝒏𝟐 +⋯+𝒏𝒏 𝒊=𝟏 𝒊

Example 1: Compute the combined mean for the following two sets.
𝑺𝒆𝒕 𝑨: 1, 4, 12, 2, 8 𝑎𝑛𝑑 6 ; 𝑺𝒆𝒕 𝑩: 3, 6, 2, 7 𝑎𝑛𝑑 4.
6 5
𝑖=1 𝑋 𝑖 33 𝑖=1 𝑋 𝑖 22
Solution: 𝑛1 = 6, 𝑥1 = = = 5.5 ; 𝑛2 = 6, 𝑥2 = = = 4.4.
𝒏𝟏 6 𝒏𝟐 5

𝑛1 𝑥1 + 𝑛2 𝑥2 6 𝑥 5.5 + 5 𝑥 4.4 55
𝑋𝑐𝑜𝑚 = = = = 5.
𝑛1 + 𝑛2 6+5 11
Example 2: The mean weight of 150 students in a certain class is 60 kg. The mean
weight of boys in the class is 70 kg and that of girl’s is 55 kg . Find the number of boys
and girls in the class?
Solution; Let 𝑛1 be the number of boys and 𝑛2 be the number of girls in the class.
Also let 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 be the mean weights of boys, girls and the mean weights of all
students respectively. Then 𝑥1 = 70, 𝑥2 = 55 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑚 = 60. 𝐶𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑛1 + 𝑛2 = 150.
𝑛 1 𝑥 1 +𝑛 2 𝑥 2 70 𝑛 1 +55𝑛 2 70 𝑛 1 +55𝑛 2
𝑋𝑐𝑜𝑚 = =≫ 60 = =≫ 60 =
𝑛 1 +𝑛 2 𝑛 1 +𝑛 2 150

=≫ 9000 = 70 𝑛1 + 55𝑛2 ….… 1 𝑎𝑛𝑑

150 = 𝑛1 + 𝑛2 …… (2)
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (1) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (2) 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦, 𝑤𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑛1 = 50 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛2 = 100.
Disadvantages of the arithmetic mean
1. The mean is meaningless in the case of nominal or qualitative data.
2. In case of grouped data, if any class interval is open ended, arithmetic mean cannot be
calculated, since the class mark of this interval cannot be found.
2.2.1.2 Weighted mean
In the computation of arithmetic mean, we had given an equal importance to each observation.
Sometimes the individual values in the data may not have an equally importance. When this is
the case, we assigned to each weight which is proportional to its relative importance.
 The weighted mean of a set of values 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛 with corresponding weights
𝑤1 , 𝑤2 , … , 𝑤𝑛 denoted by 𝑥𝑤 is computed by:

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 𝒏
𝒘𝟏 𝒙 𝟏 + 𝒘𝟐 𝒙 𝟐 + ⋯ + 𝒘𝒏 𝒙 𝒏 𝒊=𝟏 𝒘𝒊 𝒙𝒊
𝑿𝒘 = = 𝒏
𝒘𝟏 + 𝒘𝟐 + ⋯ + 𝒘 𝒏 𝒊=𝟏 𝒘𝒊

The calculation of cumulative grade point average (CGPA) in Colleges and Universities is a
good example of weighted mean.
Example: If a student scores "A" in a 3 EtCTS course, "B" in a 6 EtCTS course, "B" in
another 5 EtCTS course and "D" in a 2 EtCTS course. Compute his /her GPA for the semester.
Solution: Here the numerical values of the letter grades are the values (i.e. 𝐴 = 4, 𝐵 =
3, 𝐶 = 2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷 = 1) and the corresponding EtCTS of the course are their respective
weights. i.e.

Grade values (𝒙𝒊 ) 4 3 3 1

Weight (𝒘𝒊 ) 3 6 5 2

𝟒
𝒘𝟏 𝒙𝟏 +𝒘𝟐 𝒙𝟐 +⋯+𝒘𝒏 𝒙𝒏 𝒊=𝟏 𝒘𝒊 𝒙𝒊 4x3+3x6+3x5+1x2 12+18+15+2 47
𝑮𝑷𝑨 = 𝑿𝒘 = = 𝟒 𝒘 = = = 16 = 2.9375.
𝒘𝟏 +𝒘𝟐 +⋯+𝒘𝒏 𝒊=𝟏 𝒊 3+6+5+2 16

2.2.1.3 Geometric mean

In algebra geometric mean is calculated in the case of geometric progression, but in statistics we
need not bother about the progression, here it is particular type of data for which the geometric
mean is of great importance because it gives a good mean value. If the observed values are
measured as ratios, proportions or percentages, then the geometric mean gives a better measure
of central tendency than any other means.
 The Geometrical mean of a set of values 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛 of n positive values is defined as the
nth root of their product . That is,
𝑛
𝐺. 𝑀 = 𝑥1 ∗ 𝑥2 ∗ … ∗ 𝑥𝑛
Example: The G.M of 4, 8 and 6 is
3 3
𝐺. 𝑀 = 4𝑥8𝑥6= 192 = 5.77.
In general, the sample geometric mean is calculated by
𝑛
𝑥1 ∗ 𝑥2 ∗ … ∗ 𝑥𝑛 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑑𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑎
𝑛
𝑮. 𝒎 = 𝑥1 𝑓1 ∗ 𝑥2 𝑓2 ∗, … ,∗ 𝑥𝑘 𝑓 𝑘 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛 = 𝑓𝑖 .
𝑛
𝑚1 𝑓1 ∗ 𝑚2 𝑓2 ∗. , … ,∗ 𝑚𝑘 𝑓 𝑘 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑛 = 𝑓𝑖 .
Example1: The man gets three annual raises in his salary. At the end of first year, he
gets an increase of 4%, at the end of the second year, he gets an increase of 6% and at the
end of the third year, he gets an increase of 9% of his salary. What is the average
percentage increase in the three periods?
3
Solution: 𝐺. 𝑀 = 1.04 ∗ 1.06 ∗ 1.09 = 1.0631 => 1.0631 − 1 = 0.0631.
𝑇𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑖𝑠 6.31%.
Example 2: Compute the Geometric mean of the following data.

Values 2 4 6 8 10
Frequency 1 2 2 2 1

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 8 8 8
𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑔. 𝑚 = 21 ∗ 42 ∗ 62 ∗ 82 ∗ 101 = 2 ∗ 16 ∗ 36 ∗ 64 ∗ 100 = 737280 = 5.41.
Example 3: Suppose that the profits earned by a certain construction company in four projects
were 3%, 2%, 4% & 6% respectively. What is the Geometric mean profit?
4 4
𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: 𝑔. 𝑚 = 3∗2∗4∗6 = 144 = 3.46.
𝑇𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒; 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 3.46 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡.
2.2.1.4 Harmonic mean
Another important mean is the harmonic mean, which is suitable measure of central tendency
when the data pertains to speed, rates and price.
 Let 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛 be n variant values in a set of observations, then simple harmonic
𝐧 𝐧
mean is given by: 𝑺. 𝑯. 𝑴 = 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 = 𝐧 𝟏
+ +⋯+ 𝐢=𝟏 𝐱
𝐱𝟏 𝐱𝟐 𝐱𝐧 𝐢

 Note: SHM is used for equal distances, equal costs and equal rates.

Example 1: A motorist travels for three days at a rate (speed) of 480 km/day. On the first day he
travels 10 hours at a rate of 48 km/h, on the second day 12 hours at a rate of 40 km/h, on the
third day 15 hours at a rate of 32 km/h. What is the average speed?
Solution: Since the distance covered by the motorist is equal (𝑖. 𝑒. 𝑠1 = 480, 𝑠2 = 480, 𝑠3 =
480), so we use SHM.
3
𝑆. 𝐻. 𝑀 = 1/48+1/40+1/32 = 38.92 so the required average speed = 38.92 𝑘𝑚/𝑕.

We can check this, by using the known formula for average speed in elementary physics.
total distance covered 𝑆𝑇
Check; 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑉𝑎𝑣 = =
total time taken 𝑡𝑇
480km +480km +480km 1440 km
= = = 38.42 𝑘𝑚/ h.
10hr +12hr +15hr 37hr

Example 2: A business man spent 20 Birr for milk at 40 cents per liter in Mizan-Aman town and
another 20 Birr at 60 cents per liter in Tepi town. What is the average price of milk at two towns.
Solution: Since the price on the two towns are equal (20 Birr), so we use SHM.
2
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 (𝑝𝑎𝑣 ) = 𝑆. 𝐻. 𝑀 = 1 1 = 48 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠/𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟.
+
40 60

Weighted harmonic mean (WHM)

 WHM is used for different distance, different cost and different rate.
𝑤𝑖
𝑊. 𝐻. 𝑀 = wi
xi
Example 1: A driver travel for 3 days. On the 1st day he drives for 10h at a speed of 48 km/h, on
the 2nd day for 12h at 45 km/h and on the 3rd day for 15h at 40 km/h. What is the average speed?
Solution: since the distance covered by the driver is not equal, so we use WHM by taking
the distance as weights (wi).
𝑤𝑖 (480 + 540 + 600)𝑘𝑚
𝑣𝑎𝑣 = 𝑤. 𝑕. 𝑚 = wi = 480 540 600 = 43.32 𝑘𝑚/𝑕𝑟.
xi 40 + + 40 𝑕𝑟
45

Example 2: A business man spent 20 Birr for milk at rate of 40 cents per liter in Mizan-Aman
town and 25 Birr at a price of 50 cents per liter in Tepi town. What is the average price ?

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Solution: Since the price on the two towns are different , so we use WHM by taking the cost as
weights (wi).
𝑤𝑖 20 + 25 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑟
𝑝𝑎𝑣 = 𝑤. 𝑕. 𝑚 = w = = 45 𝑐/𝑙.
i 20 25
xi 40 + 50 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑟 𝑙/𝑐
 (Finally If all the observations are positive) 𝐴. 𝑀 ≥ 𝐺. 𝑀 ≥ 𝐻. 𝑀.
Corrected mean
𝒄−𝒘
𝒙𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒓 = 𝒙𝒘 + 𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑥𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝒏
 𝒄 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝒘 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠.
Example: The mean age of a group of 100 persons was found to be 32.02 years. Later on, it was
discovered that age of 57 was misread as 27. Find the corrected mean?
Solution: 𝑛 = 100, 𝑥𝑤 = 32.02 , 𝑐 = 57 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤 = 27.
𝑐−𝑤 57 − 27
𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟 = 𝑥𝑤 + = 32.02 + = 32.02 + 0.3 = 32.32 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠.
𝑛 100
Median and mode
2.2.2 The Median
Suppose we sort all the observations in numerical order, ranging from smallest to largest or vice
versa. Then the median is the middle value in the sorted list. We denote it by x.
Let 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑛 be n ordered observations. Then the median is given by:
𝑿 𝒏+𝟏 𝐼𝑓 𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑑𝑑.
𝟐
𝒙= 𝑿 𝒏 +𝑿 𝒏
𝟐 𝟐 +𝟏
𝐼𝑓 𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛.
𝟐

Example 1: Find the median for the following data.

23, 16, 31, 77, 21, 14, 32, 6, 155, 9, 36, 24, 5, 27, 19
Solution: First arrange the given data in increasing order. That is
5, 6, 9, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27, 31, 32, 36, 77, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 155.
𝑛 = 15 =≫ 𝑜𝑑𝑑, 𝑥 = 𝑋 𝑛 +1 = 𝑋 15+1 = 𝑋 8 = 23
2 2

Example 2: Find the median for the following data.

61, 62, 63, 64, 64, 60, 65, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 64, 63
Solution: First arrange the given data in increasing order. that is
60, 61, 61, 62, 63, 63, 63, 64, 64, 64, 65, 65 & 66.
𝑋𝑛 +𝑋 𝑛 𝑋 14 + 𝑋 14
2 2
+1 2 2
+1 𝑋 7 + 𝑋 8 63 + 64 127
𝑛 = 14 =≫ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛, 𝑥 = = = = = = 63.5
2 2 2 2 2

Median for ungrouped data

 Let 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑘 have their corresponding frequencies 𝑓1 , 𝑓2 , … , 𝑓𝑘 then to find the median:

 First sort the data in ascending order.

 Construct the less than cumulative frequency (lcf) .
𝑘 n+1 n+1
 If 𝑛 = 𝑖=1 fi is odd, find and search the smallest lcf which is ≥ . Then
2 2

the variant value corresponding to this lcf is the median.

n 𝑛 n 𝑛
 If n is even, find 2
& 2
+ 1 and search the smallest lcf which is ≥ 2
& 2
+1 .

Then the average of the variant values corresponding to these lcf is the median.

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 Example 1: Find the median for the following data.

Values (xi) 3 5 4 2 7 6
Frequency (fi) 2 1 3 2 1 1

Solution: First arrange the data in increasing order and construct the lcf table for this data.

Values (xi) 2 3 4 5 6 7
Frequency (fi) 2 2 3 1 1 1
Lcf 2 4 7 8 9 10

𝑛 10 𝑛 10
𝑛 = 10 =≫ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛. 𝑆𝑜 = = 5 𝑎𝑛𝑑 +1= + 1 = 5 + 1 = 6.
2 2 2 2

Then the smallest LCF which is ≥ 5 & 6 𝑖𝑠 7 and the variant value corresponding to this LCF
4+4
is 4. Thus the median is x= = 4.
2

Example 2: Calculate the median of the marks of 46 students given below.

Values (xi) 10 9 11 12 14 13 15 16 17 18
Frequency (fi) 2 1 3 6 10 11 7 3 2 1

Solution: First arrange the data in ascending order and construct the LCF table for this data.

Values (xi) 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Frequency (fi) 1 2 3 6 11 10 7 3 2 1
LCF 1 3 6 12 23 33 40 43 45 46

𝑛 46 𝑛 46
𝑛 = 46 =≫ 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛. 𝑆𝑜 = = 23 𝑎𝑛𝑑 + 1 = + 1 = 23 + 1 = 24.
2 2 2 2
𝑇𝑕𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐿𝐶𝐹 ≥ 23 & 24 𝑎𝑟𝑒 23 & 33 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 the variant values
13+14
corresponding to these LCF are 13 & 14 respectively. Thus the median 𝑖𝑠 x = = 13.5.
2

Median for grouped data

The formula for computing the median for grouped data is given by
𝒏
− 𝒍𝒄𝒇𝒑 𝒙 𝒘
𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏 = 𝐱 = 𝐥𝐜𝐛𝒙 + 𝟐
𝒇𝒎
𝑊𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝑙𝑐𝑏𝑥 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝒍𝒄𝒃 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
 𝑛 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠.
 𝑓𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
 𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡𝑕 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠. 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 ∶ 𝑤 = 𝑢𝑐𝑏 − 𝑙𝑐𝑏.
 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝒍𝒄𝒇 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.

n
 Note: The class corresponding to the smallest LCF which is ≥ is called the median
2
class. So that the median lies in this class.
Steps to calculate the median for grouped data
1. First construct the LCF table.
n
2. Determine the median class. To determine the median class, find and search the
2
n
smallest LCF which is ≥ 2. Then the class corresponding to this lcf is the median

class.

Page 7
Example 1: Find the median for the following data.

Daily production 80 − 89 90 − 99 100 − 109 110 − 119 120 − 129 130 − 139
Frequency 5 9 20 8 6 2

Solution: First construct the LCF table.

Daily production(CI) 80 − 89 90 − 99 100 − 109 110 − 119 120 − 129 130 − 139
Frequency(fi) 5 9 20 8 6 2
Lcf 5 14 34 42 48 50

𝑛 50 𝑛
To obtain the median class , calculate = = 25. Thus the smallest lcf which is ≥ is 34. So
2 2 2

the class corresponding to this lcf is 100 − 109, 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
𝑇𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝑙𝑐𝑏𝑥 = 99.5, 𝑤 = 10, 𝑓𝑚 = 20, 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 = 14.
𝑛
− 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑥 𝑤 25 − 14 𝑥 10
𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = x = lcb𝑥 + 2 = 99.5 + = 105.
𝑓𝑚 20
Properties of the median
1. The median is unique.
2. It can be computed for an open ended frequency distribution if the median does not lie in
an open ended class.
3. It is not affected by extremely large or small values .
4. It is not so suitable for algebraic manipulations.
5. It can be computed for ratio level, interval level and ordinal level data.
2.2.3 The mode
In every day speech, something is “in the mode” if it is fashionable or popular. In statistics this
“popularity” refers to frequency of observations.
Therefore, mode is the `most frequently observed value in a set of observations.
𝑬𝒙𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆: 𝑺𝒆𝒕 𝑨: 10, 10, 9, 8, 5, 4, 5, 12, 10 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒 = 10 → 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙.
𝑺𝒆𝒕 𝑩: 10, 10, 9, 9, 8, 12, 15, 5 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒 = 9 &10 → 𝑏𝑖𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙.
𝑺𝒆𝒕 𝑪: 4, 6, 7, 15, 12, 9 𝑛𝑜 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒.
Remark: In a set of observed values, all values occur once or equal number of times, there is no
mode. (See set C above).

Mode for a grouped data

If the data is grouped such that we are given frequency distribution of finite class intervals, we
do not know the value of every item, but we easily determine the class with highest frequency.
Therefore, the modal class is the class with the highest frequency. So that the mode of the
distribution lies in this class.
 To compute the mode for a grouped data we use the formula:
∆𝟏
𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆 = 𝑿 = 𝒍𝒄𝒃𝒙 + 𝒙𝒘
∆𝟏 + ∆𝟐
𝑤𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒; ∆1 = 𝑓𝑚 − 𝑓𝑝 , ∆2 = 𝑓𝑚 − 𝑓𝑠

𝑊𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝑙𝑐𝑏𝑥 – 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝒍𝒄𝒃 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.

𝑓𝑚 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.

Page 8
 𝑓𝑝 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
𝑓𝑠 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
𝑤 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡𝑕 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
Example 1: The ages of newly hired, unskilled employees are grouped into the following
distribution. Then compute the modal age?

Ages 18 − 20 21 − 23 24 − 26 27 − 29 30 − 32
Number 4 8 11 20 7

Solution: First we determine the modal class. The modal class is 27 − 29, since it has the highest
frequency. 𝑇𝑕𝑢𝑠, 𝑙𝑐𝑏𝑥 = 26.5, 𝑤 = 3, ∆1 = 20 − 11 = 9, ∆2 = 20 − 7 = 13.
∆1 9 27
𝑋 = 𝑙𝑐𝑏𝑥 + 𝑥 𝑤 = 26.5 + 𝑥 3 = 26.5 + = 26.5 + 1.2 = 𝟐𝟕. 𝟕
∆1 + ∆2 9 + 13 22
Interpretation: The age of most of these newly hired employees is 27.7 (27 years and 7 months).
Example 2: The following table shows the distribution of a group of families according to their
expenditure per week. The median and the mode of the following distribution are known to be
25.50 Birr and 24.50 Birr respectively. Two frequency values are however missing from the
table. Find the missing frequencies.

Class interval 1 − 10 11 − 20 21 − 30 31 − 40 41 − 50
Frequency 14 𝑓2 27 𝑓4 15

Solution: The LCF table of the given distribution can be formed as follows.

Expenditure (CI) 1 − 10 11 − 20 21 − 30 31 − 40 41 − 50
Number of families (fi) 14 𝑓2 27 𝑓4 15
LCF 14 14 + 𝑓2 41 + 𝑓2 41 + 𝑓2 + 𝑓4 56 + 𝑓2 + 𝑓4

Here: 𝑛 = 56 + 𝑓2 + 𝑓4 . Since the median and the mode are Birr 25.5 & 24.5 respectively then
the class 21 − 30 is the median class as well as the modal class.
56+𝑓2 +𝑓4
−(14+𝑓2) x 10
2
25.5 = 20.5 + (𝑖)
27
27−𝑓2 x 10
24.5 = 20.5 + (27−𝑓 (𝑖𝑖)
2 )+(27−𝑓4 )

𝐸𝑞𝑛. (𝑖) 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑞𝑛. (𝑖𝑖) 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠

5 x 56+𝑓2 +𝑓4 −10 x (14+𝑓2 ) 27−𝑓2 x 10
5= & 4=
27 54−𝑓2 −𝑓4

Further simplifying the above we get

𝑓2 − 𝑓4 = 1. (𝑖𝑖𝑖) &
3𝑓2 − 2𝑓4 = 27. (𝑖𝑣)
𝑆𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑖𝑖 & 𝐼𝑉 , 𝑤𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓2 & 𝑓4 𝑎𝑠 𝑓2 = 25 & 𝑓4 = 24.
Properties of mode
1. it is not affected by extreme values.
2. It can be calculated for distribution with open ended classes.
3. It can be computed for all levels of data i.e. nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio.

Page 9
 4. The main drawback of mode is that often it does not exist.
5. Often its values are not unique.
2.3 Measure of non - central location (Quintiles’)
There are three types of quintiles. These are:
1. Quartiles
The quartiles are the three points, which divide a given order data into four equal parts. These
𝑖 𝑥 (𝑛+1)𝑡𝑕
𝑄𝑖 = , 𝑖 = 1, 2, 3. → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎.
4
n+1 th
Q1 is the value corresponding to ( ) ordered observation.
4
n+1 th
Q2 is the value corresponding to 2 𝑥 ( ) ordered observation.
4
n+1 th
Q3 is the value corresponding to 3 𝑥 ( ) ordered observation.
4

Example: Consider the age data given below and calculate Q1, Q2, and Q3.
19, 20, 22, 22, 17, 22, 20, 23, 17, 18
Solution: First arrange the data in ascending order, n=10.
17, 17, 18, 19, 20, 20, 22, 22, 22, 23
n+1 th 10+1 th
Q1 = ( ) =( ) = (2.75)th observation = 2nd observation + 0.75 (3rd - 2nd)
4 4

observation = 17 + 0.75(18 − 17) = 17.75

Therefore 25% of the observations are below 17.75
n+1 th 10+1 th
Q2 = 2𝑥( ) =2𝑥( ) = (5.5)th observation = 5𝑡𝑕 + 0.5(6𝑡𝑕 − 5𝑡𝑕) = 20 +
4 4

0.5(20 − 20) = 20.

n+1 th 10+1 th
Q3 = 3𝑥( ) = 3𝑥( ) = (8.25)th observation = 8th + 0.25x(9th - 8th) = 22+0.25x(22-
4 4

22)= 22

Calculation of quartiles for grouped data

 For the grouped data, the computations of the three quartiles can be done as follows:
𝑖𝑥𝑛 𝑖𝑥𝑛
 Calculate and search the minimum lcf which is ≥ , 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖 = 1, 2, 3.
4 4

The class corresponding to this lcf is called the ith quartile class. This is the class where Qi lies.
The unique value of the ith quartile (Qi) is then calculated by the formula
𝒊𝒙𝒏
− 𝒍𝒄𝒇𝒑 𝒙 𝒘
𝐐𝐢 = 𝐥𝐜𝐛𝒒𝒊 + 𝟒 , 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒊 = 𝟏, 𝟐, 𝟑.
𝒇𝒒𝒊
𝑊𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒: lcb𝑞 𝑖 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝒍𝒄𝒃 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑕 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
 𝑓𝑞 𝑖 − 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑕 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑙𝑐𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑡𝑕𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑕 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠.
𝑁𝑜𝑡𝑒: 𝑄2 = 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛

2. Percentiles (P)
Percentiles are 99 points, which divide a given ordered data into 100 equal parts. These
𝑚 𝑥 (𝑛 + 1)𝑡𝑕
𝑃𝑚 = , 𝑚 = 1, 2, … ,99. → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎.
100

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 Calculation of percentiles for grouped data
For the grouped data, the computations of the 99 percentiles can be done as follows:
𝑚𝑥𝑛 𝑚𝑥𝑛
 Calculate and search the minimum lcf which is ≥ , 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚 = 1, 2, … ,99.
100 100

The class corresponding to this lcf is called the mth percentile class. This is the class where Pm
lies.
The unique value of the mth percentile (Pm)) is then calculated by the formula
𝒎𝒙𝒏
− 𝒍𝒄𝒇𝒑 𝒙 𝒘
𝐩𝐦 = 𝐥𝐜𝐛𝒑𝒎 + 𝟏𝟎𝟎 , 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎 = 𝟏, 𝟐, … , 𝟗𝟗.
𝒇𝒑𝒎
𝑊𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝑙𝑐𝑏𝑝 𝑚 , 𝑓𝑝 𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑕𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠.
3. Deciles (D)
Deciles are the nine points, which divide the given ordered data into 10 equal parts.
𝑘 𝑥 (𝑛 + 1)𝑡𝑕
𝐷𝑘 = , 𝑘 = 1, 2, … ,9.
10
For the grouped data, the computations of the 9 deciles can be done as follows:
𝑘𝑥𝑛 𝑘𝑥𝑛
 Calculate and search the minimum lcf which is ≥ , 𝑘 = 1, 2, … ,9.
10 10

The class corresponding to this lcf is called the kth decile class. This is the class where Dk lies.
The unique value of the kth decile (𝐷𝑘 ) is calculated by the formula
𝒌𝒙𝒏
− 𝒍𝒄𝒇𝒑 𝒙 𝒘
𝐃𝐤 = 𝐥𝐜𝐛𝑫𝒌 + 𝟏𝟎 , 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒌 = 𝟏, 𝟐, … , 𝟗.
𝒇𝑫𝒌
𝑊𝑕𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝑙𝑐𝑏𝐷𝑘 , 𝑓𝐷𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑕𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠.
Note that: 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = Q2 = D5 = P50 and 𝐷1 , 𝐷2 , … , 𝐷9 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑃10 , 𝑃20 , … , 𝑃90
𝑄1 , 𝑄2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑄3 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑃25 , 𝑃50 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃75 .
Example: For the following FD data , find
a) 𝑄1 , 𝑄2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑄3 b) 𝑃25 , 𝑃30 , 𝑃50 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃75 c) 𝐷1 , 𝐷2 , 𝐷3 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷5

interval 21 − 22 23 − 24 25 − 26 27 − 28 29 − 30
F 10 22 20 14 14

Solution: First find the lcf table

interval 21 − 22 23 − 24 25 − 26 27 − 28 29 − 30 total
F 10 22 20 14 14 80
Lcf 10 32 52 66 80

𝑛 80
a) 𝑄1 =? = = 20. Thus, the minimum lcf just ≥ 20 is 32 so the class corresponding to
4 4

this 𝑙𝑐𝑓 𝑖𝑠 23 − 24, is the first quartile class. lcb𝑞 1 = 22.5, 𝑤 = 2, 𝑓𝑞 1 = 22, 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 = 10.
𝑛
−𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑥𝑤 20−10 𝑥2
4
Q1 = lcb𝑞 1 + = 22.5 + = 23.41.
𝑓𝑞 1 22

2𝑛 160
𝑄2 =? = = 40. Thus, the minimum lcf just ≥ 40 is 52 so the class corresponding to
4 4

this 𝑙𝑐𝑓 𝑖𝑠 25 − 26, is the second quartile class. lcb𝑞 2 = 24.5, 𝑤 = 2, 𝑓𝑞 2 = 20, 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 = 32.
2𝑥𝑛
−𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑥𝑤 40−32 𝑥2
4
Q2 = lcb𝑞 2 + = 24.5 + = 25.3.
𝑓𝑞 2 20

𝑄3 = 27.64.

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 25𝑥𝑛 25𝑥80
b) 𝑃25 =? = = 20. Thus, the minimum lcf just ≥ 20 is 32 so the class
100 100
corresponding to this 𝑙𝑐𝑓 𝑖𝑠 23 − 24, is the 25th percentile class.
𝑇𝑕𝑢𝑠, lcb𝑝 25 = 22.5, 𝑤 = 2, 𝑓𝑝 25 = 22, 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 = 10.
25𝑥𝑛
− 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑥 𝑤 20 − 10 𝑥 2
p25 = lcb𝑝 25 + 100 = 22.5 + = 23.41.
𝑓𝑝 25 22
p20 = 23.045.
p30 = 23.77.
p50 = 25.3.
p75 = 27.64.
1𝑥𝑛 80
C) 𝐷1 =? = 10 = 8. Thus, the minimum lcf just ≥ 8 is 10 so the class corresponding to
10

this 𝑙𝑐𝑓 𝑖𝑠 21 − 22, is the first decile class. 𝑇𝑕𝑢𝑠, lcb𝐷1 = 20.5, 𝑤 = 2, 𝑓𝐷1 = 10, 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 = 0.
1𝑥𝑛
− 𝑙𝑐𝑓𝑝 𝑥 𝑤 8−0 𝑥2
D1 = lcb𝐷1 + 10 = 20.5 + = 22.1 =≫ 𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦.
𝑓𝐷1 10
D2 = 23.045.
D3 = 23.77.
D5 = 25.3.
:. Q1 = P25 , Q2 = P50 and Q3 = P75 D1 = P10, D2 = P20, D3 = P30 and D5 = P50
and median = Q2 = D5 = P50

2.4. Measures of variation (dispersion)

Measures of central tendency locate the center of the distribution. But they do not tell how
individual observations are scattered on either side of the center. The spread of observations
around the center is known as dispersion or variability. In other words; the degree to which
numerical data tend to spread about an average value is called dispersion or variation of the data.
 Small dispersion indicates high uniformity of the observation while larger dispersion
indicates less uniformity.
Types of Measures of Dispersion
The most commonly used measures of dispersions are:
1. The Range (R)
The Range is the difference b/n the highest and the smallest observation. That is;
𝑋𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑋𝑚𝑖𝑛 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎.
𝑅=
𝑈𝐶𝐿𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 − 𝐿𝐶𝐿𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎.
It is a quick and dirty measure of variability. Because of the range is greatly affected by extreme
values, it may give a distorted picture of the scores.
Range is a measure of absolute dispersion and as such cannot be used for comparing variability
of two distributions expressed in different units.
4. Variance and Standard Deviation
Variance: is the average of the squares of the deviations taken from the mean.
Suppose that 𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , … , 𝑥𝑁 be the set of observations on N populations. Then,
𝑁 𝑁
𝑥𝑖 − 𝜇 2 𝑖=1 𝑥 𝑖
2 − 𝑁𝜇 2
𝑃𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝜎 2 = 𝑖=1
= . → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
𝑁 𝑁
𝑛 𝑛
𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥 2 𝑖=1 𝑥 𝑖
2 − 𝑛𝑥 2
𝑆𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝑠 2 = 𝑖=1
= . → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒.
𝑛−1 𝑛 −1

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In general, the sample variance is computed by:
𝑛 𝑛
𝑖=1𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥 2 2
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑛𝑥
2
= . → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑤 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎.
𝑛−1 𝑛−1
𝑘 2 𝑘 2 2
𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑥 𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑛𝑥
𝑠2 = 𝑘 = . → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎.
𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 − 1 𝑛−1
𝑘
𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 𝑚𝑖 − 𝑥 2 𝑘
𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 𝑚𝑖 2 − 𝑛𝑥 2
𝑘 = . → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎.
𝑖=1 𝑓𝑖 − 1 𝑛−1
Standard Deviation: it is the square root of variance. Its advantage over the variance is that it is
in the same units as the variable under the consideration. It is a measure of the average variation
in a set of data. It is a measure of how far, on the average, an individual measurements is from
the mean. 𝑆. 𝑑 = 𝑣𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝑆 2 = 𝑆.
Example 1: Compute the variance for the sample: 5, 14, 2, 2 and 17.
𝑛 𝑛 2
Solution: 𝑛 = 5, 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 = 40, 𝑥 = 8 , 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 = 518 .
𝑛 2
2 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖− 𝑛𝑥 2 518 − 5 𝑥 82
𝑠 = = = 49.5. , 𝑆 = 49.5 = 7.04.
𝑛−1 5−1
Example 2: Suppose the data given below indicates time in minute required for a laboratory
experiment to compute a certain laboratory test. Calculate the mean, variance and standard
deviation for the following data.
𝒙𝒊 32 36 40 44 48 Total
𝒇𝒊 2 5 8 4 1 20
𝒇𝒊 𝒙𝒊 64 180 320 176 48 788
𝒇𝒊 𝒙𝒊 𝟐 2048 6480 12800 7744 2304 31376
𝑛 𝑛 2
𝑖=1 𝒇𝒊 𝒙𝒊 788 𝑖=1 𝒇𝒊 𝑥 𝑖 − 𝑛𝑥 2 31376 −20 𝑥 39.4 2
𝑥= = = 39.4 , 𝑠 2 = = = 17.31. , 𝑆 = 17.31 = 4.16.
𝑛 20 𝑛−1 19

Properties of Variance
1. The variance is always non-negative ( 𝑠 2 ≥ 0).
2. If every element of the data is multiplied by a constant "c", then the new variance
𝑠 2 𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 𝑐 2 𝑥 𝑠 2 𝑜𝑙𝑑 .
3. When a constant is added to all elements of the data, then the variance does not change.
4. The variance of a constant (c) measured in n times is zero. i.e. (var(c) = 0).
Exercise: Verify the above properties.
Uses of the Variance and Standard Deviation
1. They can be used to determine the spread of the data. If the variance or S.D is large, then
the data are more dispersed.
2. They are used to measure the consistency of a variable.
3. They are used quit often in inferential statistics.
5. Coefficient of Variation (C.V)
Whenever the two groups have the same units of measurement, the variance and S.D for each
can be compared directly. A statistics that allows one to compare two groups when the units of
measurement are different is called coefficient of variation. It is computed by:
𝜎
𝐶. 𝑉 = 𝑥 100% → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
𝜇
𝑆
𝐶. 𝑉 = 𝑥 100% → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒.
𝑥

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Example: The following data refers to the hemoglobin level for 5 males and 5 female students.
In which case , the hemoglobin level has high variability (less consistency).

For males (xi) 13 13.8 14.6 15.6 17

For females (xi) 12 12.5 13.8 14.6 15.6

13+13.8+14.6+15.6+17 74 12+12.5+13.8+14.6+15.6 68
Solution: 𝑥𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 = 5
= 5
= 14.8 , 𝑥𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 = 5
= 5
= 13.7.

𝑛 2
𝑖=1 𝑥 𝑖 − 𝑛𝑥 2
𝑠 2 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 𝑛−1
= 2.44. , 𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 2.44 = 1.56205.,

𝑛 2
𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 − 𝑛𝑥 2
𝑠 2𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 = = 2.19. , 𝑆𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 2.19 = 1.479865.
𝑛−1
𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 1.56205
𝐶. 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥100% = 𝟏𝟎. 𝟓𝟔%,
𝑥 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 14.8

𝑆𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 1.479865
𝐶. 𝑉𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑠 = 𝑥 100% = 𝑥100% = 𝟏𝟎. 𝟖%.
𝑥𝑓𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 13.7

Therefore, the variability in hemoglobin level is higher for females than for males.

6. Standard Scores (Z-Scores)

 It is used for describing the relative position of a single score in the entire set of data in
terms of the mean and standard deviation.
 It is used to compare two observations coming from different groups.
 If X is a measurement (an observation) from a distribution with mean 𝑥 and
standard deviation S, then its value in standard units is
𝑋−𝜇
𝑍= → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑜𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
𝜎
𝑥−𝑥
𝑍= → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒.
𝑆
 Z gives the number of standard deviation a particular observation lie above
or below the mean.
 A positive Z-score indicates that the observation is above the mean.
 A negative Z-score indicates that the observation is below the mean.
Example: Two sections were given an examination on a certain course. For section 1, the
average mark (score) was 72 with standard deviation of 6 and for section 2, the average mark
(score) was 85 with standard deviation of 7. If student A from section 1 scored 84 and student B
from section 2 scored 90, then who perform a better relative to the group?
𝑥−𝑥 84−72
Solution: 𝑍 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐴 𝑖𝑠 𝑍 = = = 2.
𝑆 6
𝑥−𝑥 90−85
𝑍 𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐵 𝑖𝑠 𝑍 = = = 0.71.
𝑆 7

Since ZA > ZB i.e. 2 > 0.71, student A performed better relative to his group than student B.
Therefore, student A has performed better relative to his group because the score's of student A
is two standard deviation above the mean score of section 1 while the score of student B is only
0.71 standard deviation above the mean score of students in section 2.

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