MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
(MEAN, MEDIAN, MODE)
The mean, median, and mode are the measures of central tendency of a set of data.
mean:
the sum of values in a set of data divided
by the number of values in the set of data
median:
the middle value when data is ordered
from least to greatest
mode:
the value that occurs most often in a set of data
range:
the difference between the greatest and least
values in a set of data
Example 1:
Consider these test scores, all out of 100.
61
45
Unit 8 Lesson 4
76
68
89
62
72
59
65
71
71
68
a)
Determine the mean score.
b)
Determine the median score.
c)
Determine the mode score.
d)
Determine the range.
61
69
83
86
Page 1 of 2
Example 2:
Barney is applying for his pro bowling tour status. He has submitted
his last 20 bowling scores: 4 perfect games of 300, 5 scores of 284,
1 score of 281, 6 scores of 270, 1 score of 250, and 3 scores of 225.
Determine Barney’s mean and median bowling score.
Example 3:
The number of goals scored by the players on a hockey team is
listed below:
8, 8, 10, 11, 12, 12, 12, 15, 15, 15, 19, 24, 40
Determine whether the mean or median best describes the measure
of central tendency of the data.
outlier:
an extreme value in a set of data
Homework: p.136–139 #3, 5–8, 11
Unit 8 Lesson 4
Page 2 of 2