Mean, Mode, Median, and Standard Deviation

The Mean and Mode

The sample mean is the average and is computed as the sum of all the observed outcomes from the sample divided by the total number of events. We use x as the symbol for the sample mean. In math terms,

where n is the sample size and the x correspond to the observed valued.

Example Suppose you randomly sampled six acres in the Desolation Wilderness for a non-indigenous weed and came up with the following counts of this weed in this region:

34, 43, 81, 106, 106 and 115

We compute the sample mean by adding and dividing by the number of samples, 6.

34 + 43 + 81 + 106 + 106 + 115 = 80.83 6

We can say that the sample mean of non-indigenous weed is 80.83. The mode of a set of data is the number with the highest frequency. In the above example 106 is the mode, since it occurs twice and the rest of the outcomes occur only once. The population mean is the average of the entire population and is usually impossible to compute. We use the Greek letter for the population mean.

Median, and Trimmed Mean

One problem with using the mean, is that it often does not depict the typical outcome. If there is one outcome that is very far from the rest of the data, then the mean will be strongly affected by this outcome. Such an outcome is called and outlier. An alternative measure is the median. The median is the middle score. If we have an even number of events we take the average of the two middles. The median is better for describing the typical value. It is often used for income and home prices. Example Suppose you randomly selected 10 house prices in the South Lake Tahoe area. Your are interested in the typical house price. In $100,000 the prices were

2.7, 2.9, 3.1, 3.4, 3.7, 4.1, 4.3, 4.7, 4.7, 40.8
If we computed the mean, we would say that the average house price is 710,000. Although this number is true, it does not reflect the price for available housing in South Lake Tahoe. A closer look at the data shows that the house valued at 40.8 x $100,000 = $4.08 million skews the data. Instead, we use the median. Since there is an even number of outcomes, we take the average of the middle two

3.7 + 4.1 = 3.9 2

The median house price is $390,000. This better reflects what house shoppers should expect to spend.

There is an alternative value that also is resistant to outliers. This is called the trimmed mean which is the mean after getting rid of the outliers or 5% on the top and 5% on the bottom. We can also use the trimmed mean if we are concerned with outliers skewing the data, however the median is used more often since more people understand it. Example: At a ski rental shop data was collected on the number of rentals on each of ten consecutive Saturdays:

44, 50, 38, 96, 42, 47, 40, 39, 46, 50.

To find the sample mean, add them and divide by 10:

44 + 50 + 38 + 96 + 42 + 47 + 40 + 39 + 46 + 50 = 49.2

10
Notice that the mean value is not a value of the sample. To find the median, first sort the data:

38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 47, 50, 50, 96

Notice that there are two middle numbers 44 and 46. To find the median we take the average of the two.

44 + 46 Median = 2
Notice also that the mean is larger than all but three of the data points. The mean is influenced by outliers while the median is robust.

= 45

Variance, Standard Deviation and Coefficient of Variation

The mean, mode, median, and trimmed mean do a nice job in telling where the center of the data set is, but often we are interested in more. For example, a pharmaceutical engineer develops a new drug that regulates iron in the blood. Suppose she finds out that the average sugar content after taking the medication is the optimal level. This does not mean that the drug is effective. There is a possibility that half of the patients have dangerously low sugar content while the other half have dangerously high content. Instead of the drug being an effective regulator, it is a deadly poison. What the pharmacist needs is a measure of how far the data is spread apart. This is what the variance and standard deviation do. First we show the formulas for these measurements. Then we will go through the steps on how to use the formulas. We define the variance to be

and the standard deviation to be

Variance and Standard Deviation: Step by Step

Calculate the mean, x. Write a table that subtracts the mean from each observed value. Square each of the differences. Add this column. Divide by n -1 where n is the number of items in the sample This is the variance. 6. To get the standard deviation we take the square root of the variance.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Example The owner of the Ches Tahoe restaurant is interested in how much people spend at the restaurant. He examines 10 randomly selected receipts for parties of four and writes down the following data.

44, 50, 38, 96, 42, 47, 40, 39, 46, 50

He calculated the mean by adding and dividing by 10 to get

x = 49.2
Below is the table for getting the standard deviation:

x 44 50 38 96 42 47 40 39 46 50 Total

x - 49.2 -5.2 0.8 11.2 46.8 -7.2 -2.2 -9.2 -10.2 -3.2 0.8

(x - 49.2 )2 27.04 0.64 125.44 2190.24 51.84 4.84 84.64 104.04 10.24 0.64 2600.4

Now

2600.4 = 288.7 10 - 1
Hence the variance is 289 and the standard deviation is the square root of 289 = 17. What this means is that most of the patrons probably spend between $32.20 and $66.20.

The sample standard deviation will be denoted by s and the population standard deviation will be denoted by the Greek letter . The sample variance will be denoted by s2 and the population variance will be denoted by 2. The variance and standard deviation describe how spread out the data is. If the data all lies close to the mean, then the standard deviation will be small, while if the data is spread out over a large range of values, s will be large. Having outliers will increase the standard deviation. One of the flaws involved with the standard deviation, is that it depends on the units that are used. One way of handling this difficulty, is called the coefficient of variation which is the standard deviation divided by the mean times 100%

CV = 100%

In the above example, it is

17 100% = 34.6% 49.2

This tells us that the standard deviation of the restaurant bills is 34.6% of the mean.

Chebyshev's Theorem
A mathematician named Chebyshev came up with bounds on how much of the data must lie close to the mean. In particular for any positive k, the proportion of the data that lies within k standard deviations of the mean is at least

1 1 k2
For example, if k = 2 this number is

1 1 22
This tell us that at least 75% of the data lies within 75% of the mean. In the above example, we can say that at least 75% of the diners spent between

= .75

49.2 - 2(17) = 15.2

and

49.2 + 2(17) = 83.2

dollars.

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Arithmetic Median Definition: Median is the middle value of the given numbers or distribution in their ascending order.Median is the average value of the two middle elements when the size of the distribution is even. Example 1: To find the median of 4,5,7,2,1 [ODD]. Step 1: Count the total numbers given. There are 5 elements or numbers in the distribution. Step 2: Arrange the numbers in ascending order. 1,2,4,5,7 Step 3: The total elements in the distribution (5) is odd. The middle position can be calculated using the formula. (n+1)/2 So the middle position is (5+1)/2 = 6/2 = 3 The number at 3rd position is = Median = 4 Example 2: To find the median of 4,5,7,2,1,8 [Even] Step 1: Count the total numbers given.

There are 6 elements or numbers in the distribution. Step 2: Arrange the numbers in ascending order. 1,2,4,5,7,8 Step 3: The total elements in the distribution (6) is even. As the total is even, we have to take average of number at n/2 and (n/2)+1 So the position are n/2= 6/2 = 3 and 4 The number at 3rd and 4th position are 4,5 Step 4: Find the median. The average is (4+5)/2 = Median = 4.5

Related Topics: >> What is Arithmetic Mean (average). >> Calculating Mode & Range. Related Calculator: >> Mean - Median - Mode Calculator.

Mode Definition: Mode is the most frequently occurring value in a frequency distribution. Example: To find the mode of 11,3,5,11,7,3,11 Step 1:Arrange the numbers in ascending order. 3,3,5,7,11,11,11 Step 2: In the above distribution Number 11 occurs 3 times, Number 3 occurs 2 times, Number 5 occurs 1 times, Number 7 occurs 1 times. So the number with most occurrances is 11 and is the Mode of this distribution. Mode = 11 Range Definition: Range is the difference between the highest and the lowest values in a frequency distribution. Example: To find the range in 3,5,7,3,11 Step 1: Arrange the numbers in ascending order. 3,3,5,7,11 Step 2: In the above distribution The largest number is 11 The smallest value is 3 Formula = largest number - smallest number

Range = 11-3 = 8

Related Topics: >> What is Arithmetic Mean (average). >> How to calculate Median number. Related Calculator: >> Mean - Median - Mode Calculator. Math definition, example and formula..

Arithmetic Mean Definition: Arithmetic mean is commonly called as average.Mean or Average is defined as the sum of all the given elements divided by the total number of elements. Formula: Mean = sum of elements / number of elements = a1+a2+a3+.....+an/n Example: To find the mean of 3,5,7. Step 1: Find the sum of the numbers. 3+5+7 = 15 Step 2: Calculate the total number. there are 3 numbers. Step 3: Finding mean. 15/3 = 5 Related Topics: >> How to calculate Median number. >> Calculating Mode & Range. Related Calculator: >> Mean - Median - Mode Calculator. Math definition, example and formula..

The Range Given a set of numbers, the range is equal to the maximum value in the data set minus the minimum value in the data set. The range tells you how spread the entire data is. For example, given the numbers -3, 5, -

9, and 19. The highest number is 19. The smallest number is -3. The range is therefore 19 - (-3) = 22. Variance and Standard Deviation The variance and standard deviation of a data set measures the spread of the data about the mean of the data set. The variance of a sample of size n represented by s2 is given by: [The sum of (x - mean)2] s = (n-1) The standard deviation can be calculated by taking the square root of the variance.
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Calculating the Mean, Median, and Mode

The mean, median, and mode are single numbers that help describe how the individual scores in a data set are distributed in value. A data set consists of the observations for some variable is referred to as raw data or ungrouped data. The Mean The arithmetic mean is another name for the average of a set of scores. The mean can be found by dividing the sum of the scores by the number of scores. For example, the mean of 5, 8, 2, and 1 can be found by first adding up the numbers. 5 + 8 + 2 + 1 = 16. The mean is then found by taking this sum and dividing it by the number of scores. Our data set 5, 8, 2, and 1 has 4 different numbers, hence the mean is 16 4 = 4. The Median The median of a set of data values is the middle value once the data set has been arranged in order of its values. To find the mean of 2, 9, and 1, first arrange in order: 1, 2, 9. The median is the middle number or 2. If you have an even number of values such as 1, 2, 5, and 8, the median is the average of the two middle numbers. The median for 1, 2, 6, and 8 is the average of 2 and 6 = 4. The Mode The mode of a set of data values is the number in the set that appears most frequently. For example, the number 5 appears three times in 1, 2, 5, 5, 5, 8, 8, 9. Since the number 5 appears the most times, it is the mode. A set of numbers that can have more than one mode, as long as the number appears more than once. In the data set 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5. The mode is 2 and 3. We also can say that this data set is bimodal.

If no number appears more than once, then the data set has no mode.

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Calculating the Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation

The Range Given a set of numbers, the range is equal to the maximum value in the data set minus the minimum value in the data set. The range tells you how spread the entire data is. For example, given the numbers -3, 5, -9, and 19. The highest number is 19. The smallest number is -3. The range is therefore 19 - (-3) = 22. Variance and Standard Deviation The variance and standard deviation of a data set measures the spread of the data about the mean of the data set. The variance of a sample of size n represented by s2 is given by: [The sum of (x - mean)2] s2 = (n-1) The standard deviation can be calculated by taking the square root of the variance.
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Calculating the Mean, Median, and Mode

The mean, median, and mode are single numbers that help describe how the individual

scores in a data set are distributed in value. A data set consists of the observations for some variable is referred to as raw data or ungrouped data. The Mean The arithmetic mean is another name for the average of a set of scores. The mean can be found by dividing the sum of the scores by the number of scores. For example, the mean of 5, 8, 2, and 1 can be found by first adding up the numbers. 5 + 8 + 2 + 1 = 16. The mean is then found by taking this sum and dividing it by the number of scores. Our data set 5, 8, 2, and 1 has 4 different numbers, hence the mean is 16 4 = 4. The Median The median of a set of data values is the middle value once the data set has been arranged in order of its values. To find the mean of 2, 9, and 1, first arrange in order: 1, 2, 9. The median is the middle number or 2. If you have an even number of values such as 1, 2, 5, and 8, the median is the average of the two middle numbers. The median for 1, 2, 6, and 8 is the average of 2 and 6 = 4. The Mode The mode of a set of data values is the number in the set that appears most frequently. For example, the number 5 appears three times in 1, 2, 5, 5, 5, 8, 8, 9. Since the number 5 appears the most times, it is the mode. A set of numbers that can have more than one mode, as long as the number appears more than once. In the data set 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5. The mode is 2 and 3. We also can say that this data set is bimodal. If no number appears more than once, then the data set has no mode.