Abstract
This chapter reviews measures of central tendency. The two most important things to know about a frequency polygon are where it is centered and how it is spread out. Statisticians have devised measures that give this information in compact numerical form. Measures that indicate the central location of a distribution are called measures of central tendency. Measures that indicate the way in which a distribution is spread out are called measures of variability or measures of dispersion. The everyday word for a measure of central tendency is “average”. The mode is the simplest and crudest index of central tendency: it is simply the peak, or highest point, of the frequency polygon. The mode, though the most easily calculated, is the least useful of the measures of central tendency. It cannot be made the basis of any further statistical calculation, and it may give a misleading impression of where the majority of data in a distribution lie.
Published Version
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