Properties and Uses of Central Tendency

The Mean

1.       One computes the mean by using all the values in the data.

2.       The mean varies less than the median or mode when samples are taken from the same population and all three measures are computed for these samples.

3.       The mean is used in computing other statistics, such as the variance.

4.       The mean for the data set is unique and not necessarily one of the data values.

5.       The mean cannot be computed for the data in frequency distribution that has an open-ended class.

6.       The mean is affected by extremely high or low values, called outliers, and may not be the appropriate average to use in these situations.

The Median

1.       The median is used when one must find the center or middle value of a data set.

2.       The median is used when one must determine whether the data values fall into the upper half or lower half of the distribution.

3.       The median is used for an open-ended distribution.

4.       The median is affected less than the mean by extremely high or extremely low values.

The Mode

1.       The mode is used when the most typical case is desired.

2.       The mode is the easiest average to compute.

3.       The mode can be used when the data are nominal, such as religious preference, gender, or politician affiliation.

4.        The mode is not always unique.  A data set can have more than one mode, or the mode may not exist for a data set.

The Midrange

1.       The midrange is easy to compute.

2.       The midrange gives the midpoint.

3.       The midpoint is affected by extremely high or low values in a data set.

  by: Marie Louissie Ynez U. Lavega