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Chapter 18
A. Basic Statistics and Applications
1. MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
Calculate mean, median, and mode.
(Application)
Body of Knowledge IV.A.1
Part IV.A.1
Measures of central tendency can be used to describe a sample as well as an entire
population. Measures computed by data describing an entire population are
referred to as parameters. Numerical measures computed by using sample data
are referred to as statistics.
In statistics it is a standard practice to denote parameters by letters of the Greek
alphabet and statistics by letters of the English alphabet.
We divide numerical measures into three categories: 1) measures of central
tendency, 2) measures of dispersion, and 3) measures of percentage. Measures
of central tendency give us information about the center of the data, measures of
dispersion provide information about the variation within the data, and measures
of percentage tell us what percentage of the data falls within some specific interval
or intervals.
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of central tendency are also known as measures of centrality. Whether
referring to measures of centrality or central tendency, the following measures are
of primary importance:
1. Mean
2. Median
3. Mode
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