Measures of Central Tendency

1. Advantages of Each Measure Disadvantages of Each Measure Measures of Central Tendency • Mean Advantages • It is unique - there is only one answer. • Useful when comparing sets of data. • Median Advantages • Extreme values (outliers) do not affect the median as strongly as they do the mean. • Useful when comparing sets of data. • It is unique - there is only one answer. • Mode Advantages • Extreme values (outliers) do not affect the mode. • Mean Disadvantages • Affected by extreme values (outliers) • Median Disadvantages • Not as popular as mean. • Mode Disadvantages • Not necessarily unique - may be more than one answer. • When no values repeat in the data set, the mode is every value and is useless. Name: John Dewitt Hour: 1st Date: 4/24/2012

2. Mean Median Mode • It is NOT treating someone unkindly • It is commonly known as “the average” • To calculate, add the numbers in the data set together and divide by the number of elements in the data set. This number is defined as the mean. • It is NOT the side of a highway. • It is the middle number of the data set • To calculate, line up the numbers in ascending order. Count to the middle from each side. If there is an odd amount of numbers in your data set, the middle number is your mean. If there is an even amount of numbers, add the two middle numbers together and divide by two. That number is your mean. • It is NOT a list of options for your TV • It is the number that most commonly appears in your data set • To calculate, line up the numbers in ascending order and determine which number appears the most. If there is a tie between numbers, there is more than one mode, and all the numbers that tied for the most are said to be the mode.