Measures of

Central Tendency
Chapter 12
Descriptive Statistics provide us with the tools to answer
these questions.
❧Measure of central tendency enable us to draw conclusions about
how people did overall.
❧Measures of variability provide information about how spread out
our test scores are.
❧Measures of association (correlation) enable us to determine
whether a person’s standing or rank in one distribution is similar to
his/her standing in a second distribution.

❧The primary purpose of descriptive statistics is to __________

____________so we can draw conclusions about the data.
Measures of Central Tendency
❧Measures of central tendency allow us to answer questions
concerning overall performance of a group.

❧In essence, they represent our best bet when we must rely on a
single score to represent an entire distribution of scores.

❧There are three measures of central tendency: mean, median,

and mode.
 Mode

The mode is the score that appears most frequently in a

distribution. It is the least stable measure of central tendency,
and the least utilized. Note that a distribution with two modes is
bimodal.
The mean is the most stable measure of CT since every score
enters into its calculation. However, this means that the mean
is affected by extreme scores. Consequently, the mean should
NOT be used as the measure of CT when distributions are
skewed. Instead, use the median.

The median is the POINT that divides a distribution of scores

in half. Although it is called the “middle score,” it need not be
a score that actually appears in the distribution.

The first step in its calculation is to rank order the scores.

For an odd number of scores, the median is the score that has an
equal number of scores above and below it. It is also synonymous
with the 50% ile (The point BELOW WHICH 50% of the scores
fall).

For an even number of scores, take the average of the two middle
scores.

The median is NOT affected by extreme scores.

Symmetrical and asymmetrical (skewed) distributions
❧ Frequency distributions provide information about the shapes
of distributions of scores. The height of frequency distribution or
curve at each point along the baseline represents the frequency of
scores.

❧Symmetrical distributions are those in which each half or side of

the distribution is a mirror image of the other side.

❧By contrast, asymmetrical distributions are those with non-

identical halves.
Asymmetrical distributions are subdivided further
into those that are positively skewed and those that
are negatively skewed.

Positively skewed distributions are those where

the majority of scores cluster
By contrast, negatively skewed distributions are those where the
majority of scores cluster