Measures of Central Tendency
In statistics, when we want to describe what is typical or usual in a set of data, we use special numbers called measures of central tendency.
“Central” means middle, and “tendency” means what usually happens.
So, measures of central tendency are numbers that tell us what the center or typical value of a data set is.
There are three main measures:
- Mean
- Median
- Mode
Mean
The mean is what most students call the average.
Median
The median is the middle number when the data is arranged from smallest to largest.
Mode
The mode is the number that appears most often or most common value.
Second Task
In the second task, answer the following questions about the measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode) of the data set from the first task. Then, answer the questions that ask you to interpret the results and write a conclusion about the problem.
Measures of Central Tendency of Sleeping Hours of Sections A and B.
The applet below allows users to display the computed measures of central tendency for each section by clicking the corresponding button.
You may also use the checkboxes to show or hide how each measure (mean, median, and mode) is represented in the bar charts for both sections.
Deciding Measure of Central Tendency
Choose the measure of central tendency that best represents the typical daily sleeping hours of Section A and Section B.
Select all that apply
- A
- B
- C
Explaining and justifying
Explain and/or justify why your chosen measure is appropriate.
Representativeness of the Chosen Measure
For which section does the chosen measure of central tendency better represent the entire data set?
Select all that apply
- A
- B
Explaining and justifying
Explain and/or justify your answer.
Interpreting data
Which section has a higher typical number of sleeping hours based on your chosen measure of central tendency? What does this suggest?
Interpreting data
Based on your analysis, do you think sleep may be one possible reason why Section A's math performance decreased this quarter? Explain your answer using statistical evidence.
Communicating data
If you were the math teacher, what recommendation would you give to the students based on the results of the study?