Measures of central tendency

• The general term for any measure of the average value in a set of data eg. the mean
• Mode

  > Most common or popular number in a set of scores and there can be more then one mode in a data set
• Mode AO3 -

  :) Easy to calculate, less prone to distortion by extreme values as it does not take into account all data

  > Unlike the mean which is highly influenced by extreme scores as it takes all data into account
• Mode AO3 -

  :( Doesnt take into account of all scores so may be less accurate

  > Unlike mean which to takes into account all data. Moreover the mode may not be useful if there is more then one mode in a data set
• Median -

  > Central/ middle score in a list of ranked scores

  > If there are two central scores, add together and divide by 2
• Median AO3 -

  :) Easy to calculate and not affected by extreme values

  > Unlike the mean which is highly affected by extreme scores as it takes all data into account
• Median AO3 -

  :( Not as sensitive as the mean as it does not use all scores meaning less useful results
• Median AO3 -

  :( Not as sensitive as the mean as it does not use all scores meaning less useful results
• Mean -

  > All scores added up and divided by the total number of scores

  > Used with interval data
• Mean AO3

  :) Most accurate and sensitive measure of central tendency as it uses all the data sets

  > Unlike the median which does not take account of all data