Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1403

Chapter

29
Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
Introduction (i) Direct method : If the terms of the given series
be x 1 , x 2 , ...., x n and the corresponding frequencies be
An average or a central value of a statistical series
f1 , f2 , .... fn , then the arithmetic mean x is given by,
is the value of the variable which describes the
n
characteristics of the entire distribution.
The following are the five measures of central f1 x 1  f2 x 2  ....  fn x n
fx
i 1
i i

tendency x  n
.
f1  f2  ....  fn
(1) Arithmetic mean (2) Geometric mean f
i 1
i

(3) Harmonic mean (4) Median (5) Mode

(ii) Short cut method
Arithmetic mean  f ( x  A)
Arithmetic mean ( x )  A  ,
f
Arithmetic mean is the most important among the
mathematical mean. According to Horace Secrist, where A = assumed mean, f = frequency and x – A =
deviation of each item from the assumed mean.
“The arithmetic mean is the amount secured by
dividing the sum of values of the items in a series by their (3) Properties of arithmetic mean
number.” (i) Algebraic sum of the deviations of a set of
values from their arithmetic mean is zero. If x i / fi , i =
(1) Simple arithmetic mean in individual series
(Ungrouped data) 1, 2, …, n is the frequency distribution, then
n
(i) Direct method: If the series in this case be
x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , ......, x n ; then the arithmetic mean x is given by
 f (x
i 1
i i  x )  0 , x being the mean of the distribution.

Sum of the series (ii) The sum of the squares of the deviations of a
x set of values is minimum when taken about mean
Number of terms
n
(iii) Mean of the composite series : If
x 1  x 2  x 3  ....  x n 1 x i , (i  1, 2 ....., k ) are the means of k-component series of
i.e., x 
n

n x i
i 1 sizes ni , (i  1, 2, ...., k ) respectively, then the mean x of
(ii) Short cut method the composite series obtained on combining the
d component series is given by the formula
Arithmetic mean ( x )  A  , n
n
where, A = assumed mean, d = deviation from n1 x 1  n2 x 2  ....  nk x k
n x
i 1
i i
x   .
assumed mean = x – A, where x is the individual item, n1  n2  ....  nk n

d = sum of deviations and n = number of items. i 1

ni

(2) Simple arithmetic mean in continuous series

Geometric mean
(Grouped data)
 1404 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
If x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , ......, x n are n values of a variate x, none f = Frequency of the median class
of them being zero, then geometric mean (G.M.) is N = The sum of all frequencies
given by i = The width of the median class
G.M.  ( x 1 . x 2 . x 3 ...... x n )1 / n C = The cumulative frequency of the class
1 preceding to median class.
 log(G.M.)  (log x 1  log x 2  .....  log x n ) .
n (b) For series in descending order
In case of frequency distribution, G.M. of n values  N 
 C 
x 1 , x 2 , ..... x n of a variate x occurring with frequency  2   i , where u = upper limit of
Median = u 
f1 , f2 , ....., fn is given by G.M.  (x 1f1 . x 2f2 ..... x nfn )1 / N , where  f 
 
 
N  f1  f2  .....  fn . n

Harmonic mean
the median class, N  f .
i 1
i

The harmonic mean of n items x 1 , x 2 , ......, x n is As median divides a distribution into two equal
parts, similarly the quartiles, quantiles, deciles and
n percentiles divide the distribution respectively into 4,
defined as H.M.  .
1 1 1 th
5, 10 and 100 equal parts. The j quartile is given by
  ..... 
x1 x 2 xn
 N 
 j C
If the frequency distribution is f1 , f2 , f3 , ......, fn Qj  l   4  i ; j  1, 2, 3 . Q1 is the lower quartile, Q 2
f1  f2  f3  .....  fn  f 
respectively, then H.M.  .  
 f1  
f2 fn 
   .....   is the median and Q3 is called the upper quartile.
x x n 
 1 x2
(2) Lower quartile
Median n 1
th
(i) Discrete series : Q1  size of   item
The median is the central value of the set of  4 
observations provided all the observations are
N 
arranged in the ascending or descending orders. It is   C
4
generally used, when effect of extreme items is to be (ii) Continuous series : Q1  l    i
kept out. f
(1) Calculation of median (3) Upper quartile
th
(i) Individual series: If the data is raw, arrange in  3(n  1) 
ascending or descending order. Let n be the number of (i) Discrete series : Q3  size of   item
 4 
observations.
th  3N 
 n 1    C
If n is odd, Median = value of   item.  4  i
 2  (ii) Continuous series : Q3  l 
f
If n is even, Median =
(4) Decile : Decile divide total frequencies N into
ten equal parts.
th th
1 n n  
Nj
 value of   item  value of   1  item  C
2 2 2  
 D j  l  10  i , [where j = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
f
(ii) Discrete series : In this case, we first find the
9]
cumulative frequencies of the variables arranged in
ascending or descending order and the median is given N
C
If j = 5, then D5  l  2
th
 n 1   i . Hence D5 is also
by Median =   observation, where n is the f
 2 
known as median.
cumulative frequency.
(5) Percentile : Percentile divide total frequencies
(iii) For grouped or continuous distributions : In
N k
this case, following formula can be used. C
(a) For series in ascending order, Median = N into hundred equal parts and Pk  l  100  i,
f
N 
 C where k = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,.......,99.
 2  i
l
f Mode
Where l = Lower limit of the median class
 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1405
Mode : The mode or model value of a distribution is (1) Range : It is the difference between the values
that value of the variable for which the frequency is of extreme items in a series. Range = X max – Xmin
maximum. For continuous series, mode is calculated as, x  x min
The coefficient of range (scatter)  max .
 f1  f0  x max  x min
Mode  l1   i
 2 f1  f0  f2  Range is not the measure of central tendency.
Range is widely used in statistical series relating to
Where, l1 = The lower limit of the model class
quality control in production.
f1 = The frequency of the model class Range is commonly used measures of dispersion in
f0 = The frequency of the class preceding the model case of changes in interest rates, exchange rate, share
prices and like statistical information. It helps us to
class determine changes in the qualities of the goods
f2 = The frequency of the class succeeding the produced in factories.
model class (i) Inter-quartile range : We know that quartiles
i = The size of the model class. are the magnitudes of the items which divide the
distribution into four equal parts. The inter-quartile
Symmetric distribution : A distribution is a
range is found by taking the difference between third
symmetric distribution if the values of mean, mode and
and first quartiles and is given by the following
median coincide. In a symmetric distribution
formula,
frequencies are symmetrically distributed on both sides
of the centre point of the frequency curve. Inter-quartile range  Q 3  Q1 ,
where Q1 = First quartile or lower quartile and Q 3 =
Third quartile or upper quartile.
(ii) Percentile range : This is measured by the
Mean = Median =
following formula,
Mode Percentile range  P90  P10 ,
where P90 = 90th percentile and P10 = 10th
percentile.
Mean Mean Percentile range is considered better than range as
Media Mod Mod Median
e e well as inter-quartile range.
n
A distribution which is not symmetric is called a (iii) Quartile deviation or semi inter-quartile
skewed-distribution. In a moderately asymmetric range : It is one-half of the difference between the
distribution, the interval between the mean and the Q  Q1
third quartile and first quartile i.e., Q.D.  3 and
median is approximately one-third of the interval 2
between the mean and the mode i.e., we have the Q  Q1
following empirical relation between them, coefficient of quartile deviation  3 , where Q3 is
Q3  Q1
Mean – Mode = 3(Mean – Median)  Mode = 3
the third or upper quartile and Q1 is the lowest or first
Median – 2 Mean. It is known as Empirical relation.
quartile.
Pie chart (Pie diagram) (2) Mean deviation: The arithmetic average of the
deviations (all taking positive) from the mean, median
In this diagram each item has a sector whose area
or mode is known as mean deviation.
has the same percentage of the total area of the circle
Mean deviation is used for calculating dispersion of
as this item has of the total of such items. For example,
the series relating to economic and social inequalities.
if N be the total and n1 is one of the components of the
Dispersion in the distribution of income and wealth is
figure corresponding to a particular item, then the measured in term of mean deviation.
n  (i) Mean deviation from ungrouped data (or
angle of the sector for this item   1   360  , as the
N individual series)
total number of degree in the angle subtended by the | x  M |
whole circular arc at its centre is 360°. Mean deviation  ,
n
Measure of dispersion where |x – M| means the modulus of the deviation
of the variate from the mean (mean, median or mode)
The degree to which numerical data tend to spread and n is the number of terms.
about an average value is called the dispersion of the
(ii) Mean deviation from continuous series : Here
data. The four measure of dispersion are
first of all we find the mean from which deviation is to
(1) Range (2) Mean deviation be taken. Then we find the deviation dM  | x  M | of
(3) Standard deviation (4) Square
each variate from the mean M so obtained.
deviation
 1406 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
Next we multiply these deviations by the Hence, mean square deviation and consequently
corresponding frequency and find the product [Link] and root mean square deviation is least, if the deviations
then the sum  f dM of these products. are taken from the mean.
Lastly we use the formula, mean deviation
 f| x  M|
Variance
 f dM
  , where n = f.
n n The square of standard deviation is called the
(3) Standard deviation : Standard deviation (or variance.
S.D.) is the square root of the arithmetic mean of the
Coefficient of standard deviation and variance :
square of deviations of various values from their
The coefficient of standard deviation is the ratio of the
arithmetic mean and is generally denoted by  read as

sigma. It is used in statistical analysis. S.D. to A.M. i.e., .
x
(i) Coefficient of standard deviation : To compare
the dispersion of two frequency distributions the Coefficient of variance = coefficient of
relative measure of standard deviation is computed 
S.D.  100   100 .
which is known as coefficient of standard deviation and x
is given by Variance of the combined series : If n1 ,n 2 are the
 sizes, x 1 , x 2 the means and  1 ,  2 the standard deviation
Coefficient of S.D.  , where x is the A.M.
x
1
(ii) Standard deviation from individual series of two series, then  2  [n1 ( 12  d 12 )  n 2 ( 22  d 22 )] ,
n1  n2
( x  x )2
 n1 x 1  n 2 x 2
N where d1  x 1  x , d 2  x 2  x and x  .
n1  n 2
where, x = The arithmetic mean of series
N = The total frequency. Skewness
(iii) Standard deviation from continuous series
“Skewness” measures the lack of symmetry. It is
 fi (x i  x )2
  ( x i   )3
N measured by  1  and is denoted by  1 .
{(x i   2 )}3 / 2
where, x = Arithmetic mean of series
The distribution is skewed if,
x i = Mid value of the class
(i) Mean  Median  Mode
fi = Frequency of the corresponding x i
(ii) Quartiles are not equidistant from the median
N = f = The total frequency
(iii) The frequency curve is stretched more to one
Short cut method :
side than to the other.
2 2
 fd 2   fd   d2   d  (1) Distribution : There are three types of
(i)     (ii)    
N  N  N  N  distributions.
(i) Normal distribution : When 1  0 , the
where, d = x – A = Deviation from the assumed
mean A distribution is said to be normal. In this case, Mean =
Median = Mode
f = Frequency of the item
(ii) Positively skewed distribution : When  1  0 ,
N = f = Sum of frequencies
the distribution is said to be positively skewed. In this
(4) Square deviation case,
(i) Root mean square deviation Mean > Median > Mode
1
n (iii) Negative skewed distribution : When  1  0 ,
S   f (x  A )2 ,
N
i i the distribution is said to be negatively skewed. In this
i 1
case,
where A is any arbitrary number and S is called Mean < Median < Mode
mean square deviation.
(2) Measures of skewness
(ii) Relation between S.D. and root mean square
(i) Absolute measures of skewness : Various
deviation : If  be the standard deviation and S be the
measures of skewness are
root mean square deviation.
(a) S K  M  M d (b) SK  M  Mo (c)
Then, S 2   2  d 2 .
S k  Q 3  Q1  2 M d
Obviously, S 2 will be least when d = 0 i.e., x  A
where, M d = median, M o = mode, M = mean.
 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1407
Absolute measures of skewness are not useful to the sum from any other point.
compare two series, therefore relative measure of
 Some points about mode
dispersion are used, as they are pure numbers.
(3) Relative measures of skewness  It is not based on all items of the series.
(i) Karl Pearson’s coefficient of skewness  It is not necessary that a distribution has
M  Mo (M  M d ) unique mode.
Sk  3 , 3  S k  3
   As compared to other averages mode is
where  is standard deviation. affected to a large extent by fluctuations of
sampling.
(ii) Bowley’s coefficient of skewness :
Q 3  Q1  2 M d  It is not suitable in a case where the relative
Sk  importance of items have to be considered.
Q3  Q1
 Mean coefficient of dispersion
Bowley’s coefficient of skewness lies between –1
Mean deviation from the mean
and 1. 
Mean
(iii) Kelly’s coefficient of skewness
P10  P90  2 M d D1  D9  2 M d  Median coefficient of dispersion
SK   . Mean deviation from the median
P90  P10 D9  D1 
Median
 Mode coefficient of dispersion
Mean deviation from the mode

Mode
 Quartile deviation is less affected by extreme
values of the series.
 Some points about arithmetic mean  Mean deviation is based on all the items of
 Of all types of averages the arithmetic mean is series. It is therefore more representative than
most commonly used average. the range or quartile deviation.
 It is based upon all observations.  Mean deviation from the median is less than that
measured from any other mean.
 If the number of observations is very large, it
is more accurate and more reliable basis for  Standard deviation ≤ Range i.e., variance ≤
comparison. (Range)2.
 Some points about geometric mean  Empirical relations between measures of
 It is based on all items of the series. dispersion
 It is most suitable for constructing index 4
 Mean deviation  (standard deviation)
number, average ratios, percentages etc. 5
 G.M. cannot be calculated if the size of any of 2
the items is zero or negative.  Semi interquartile range  (standard
3
 Some points about H.M. deviation)
 It is based on all item of the series.
5
 Semi interquartile range  (mean deviation)
 This is useful in problems related with rates, 6
ratios, time etc.
 For a symmetrical distribution, the following
 A.M.  G.M.  H.M. and also
2
area relationship holds good
(G.M.)  (A.M.)(H.M.) .
X   covers 68.27% items
 A.M. gives more weightage to larger values
whereas G.M. and H.M. give more weightage to X  2 covers 95.45% items
smaller values.
X  3 covers 99.74% items
 Some points about median
 It is an appropriate average in dealing with n2  1
 S.D. of first n natural numbers is .
qualitative data, like intelligence, wealth etc. 12

 The sum of the deviations of the items from

median, ignoring algebraic signs, is less than
 1408 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
(a) 3 (b) 7
(c) 10 (d) 14

Mean
1. If the mean of 3, 4, x, 7, 10 is 6, then the value of x is
(a) 4 (b) 5
(c) 6 (d) 7
2. The mean of a set of numbers is x . If each
number is multiplied by , then the mean of new
set is
(a) x (b)   x
(c) x (d) None of these
3. The mean of discrete observations y1 , y 2 , ......, y n is
given by
[DCE 1999]
n n

y
i1
i y
i 1
i

(a) (b) n
n
i i 1
n n

y f
i 1
i i y f
i 1
i i

(c) (d) n
n
fi 1
i

4. d i is the deviation of a class mark y i from ‘a’ the

assumed mean and fi is the frequency, if
1
Mg  x  ( fid i ) , then x is
 fi
(a) Lower limit (b) Assumed mean
(c) Number of observations (d) Class size
5. The mean of a set of observation is x . If each
observation is divided by ,   0 and then is
increased by 10, then the mean of the new set is
x x  10
(a) (b)
 
x  10
(c) (d) x  10

6. If the mean of the numbers 27  x , 31  x , 89  x ,
107  x , 156  x is 82, then the mean of
130  x , 126  x , 68  x , 50  x , 1  x is [Pb. CET 1989;
Kurukshetra CEE 2000; Kerala (Engg.) 2001]
(a) 75 (b) 157
(c) 82 (d) 80
7. Consider the frequency distribution of the given
numbers
Value : 1 2 3 4
Frequency : 5 4 6 f
If the mean is known to be 3, then the value of f is
 1408 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
8. If the arithmetic mean of the numbers and women are respectively 32 and 27, then the
x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , ......, x n is x , then the arithmetic mean of percentage of women in the group is
numbers ax1  b, ax 2  b, ax 3  b , ........, ax n  b , where (a) 30 (b) 40
a, b are two constants would be (c) 50 (d) 60
(a) x (b) n ax  nb 18. The A.M. of a 50 set of numbers is 38. If two
numbers of the set, namely 55 and 45 are
(c) ax (d) ax  b discarded, the A.M. of the remaining set of
9. The G.M. of the numbers 3, 3 2 , 3 3 , ......, 3 n is numbers is [Kurukshetra CEE 1993]
[Pb. CET 1997] (a) 38.5 (b) 37.5
(a) 3 2 / n (b) 3 (n 1) / 2 (c) 36.5 (d) 36
19. An automobile driver travels from plane to a hill
(c) 3 n / 2 (d) 3 (n 1) / 2
station 120 km distant at an average speed of 30
10. The reciprocal of the mean of the reciprocals of n km per hour. He then makes the return trip at an
observations is their [AMU 1985]
average speed of 25 km per hour. He covers
(a) A.M. (b) G.M. another 120 km distance on plane at an average
(c) H.M. (d) None of these speed of 50 km per hour. His average speed over
11. The harmonic mean of 3, 7, 8, 10, 14 is the entire distance of 360 km will be
3  7  8  10  14 1 1 1 1 1 30  25  50
1
(a) (b)     (a) km/hr (b) (30 , 25 , 50 ) 3
5 3 7 8 10 14 3
1 1 1 1 1 3
    (c) km/hr (d) None of these
3 7 8 10 14 5 1 1 1
(c) (d)  
4 1 1 1 1 1
    30 25 50
3 7 8 10 14
20. The average weight of students in a class of 35
12. If the algebraic sum of deviations of 20 students is 40 kg. If the weight of the teacher be
observations from 30 is 20, then the mean of 1
observations is included, the average rises by kg; the weight of
2
(a) 30 (b) 30.1
the teacher is
(c) 29 (d) 31 [Kerala (Engg.) 2002]
13. The weighted mean of first n natural numbers (a) 40.5 kg (b) 50 kg
whose weights are equal to the squares of
(c) 41 kg (d) 58 kg
corresponding numbers is [Pb. CET 1989]
21. If x 1 and x 2 are the means of two distributions
n1 3 n(n  1)
(a) (b) such that x1  x 2 and x is the mean of the
2 2(2n  1)
combined distribution, then
(n  1)(2n  1) n(n  1)
(c) (d) (a) x  x 1 (b) x  x 2
6 2
x1  x 2
1 1 1 1 1 (c) x  (d) x 1  x  x 2
14. If the values , , 1, , , ....., occur at 2
2 3 4 5 n
frequencies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ….,n in a distribution, 22. The A.M. of n observations is M. If the sum of
then the mean is n  4 observations is a, then the mean of
remaining 4 observations is
(a) 1 (b) n
n M a nM a
1 2 (a) (b)
(c) (d) 4 2
n n 1
nMA
15. The number of observations in a group is 40. If (c) (d) n M + a
the average of first 10 is 4.5 and that of the 2
remaining 30 is 3.5, then the average of the whole 23. If the mean of the distribution is 2.6, then the
group is [AMU 1992; DCE 1996] value of y is
1 15 [Kurukshetra CEE 2001]
(a) (b) Variate x 1 2 3 4 5
5 4
(c) 4 (d) 8 Frequency f of
4 5 y 1 2
x
16. A student obtain 75%, 80% and 85% in three
subjects. If the marks of another subject are (a) 24 (b) 13
added, then his average cannot be less than (c) 8 (d) 3
(a) 60% (b) 65% 24. In a class of 100 students there are 70 boys whose
(c) 80% (d) 90% average marks in a subject are 75. If the average
marks of the complete class are 72, then what are
17. The mean age of a combined group of men and
the average marks of the girls
women is 30 years. If the means of the age of men
[AIEEE 2002]
 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1409

(a) 73 (b) 65 (c) Geometric mean (d) Median

(c) 68 (d) 74 2. The central value of the set of observations is
25. If the mean of the set of numbers x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , ....., x n called
is x , then the mean of the numbers x i  2i , (a) Mean (b) Median
1  i  n is (c) Mode (d) G.M.
[Pb. CET 1988] 3. For a frequency distribution 7th decile is
(a) x  2n (b) x  n  1 computed by the formula
(c) x  2 (d) x  n N  N 
  C   C
26. The harmonic mean of 4, 8, 16 is [AMU 1995]  7   10 
(a) D7  l  i (b) D7  l  i
(a) 6.4 (b) 6.7 f f
(c) 6.85 (d) 7.8 7N   10 N 
27. Mean of 100 items is 49. It was discovered that   C   C
10 7
three items which should have been 60, 70, 80 (c) D7  l   
i (d) D7  l   
i
f f
were wrongly read as 40, 20, 50 respectively. The
correct mean is 4. Which of the following, in case of a discrete data,
is not equal to the median
[Kurukshetra CEE 1994]
1 (a) 50th percentile (b) 5th decile
(a) 48 (b) 82 (c) 2nd quartile (d) Lower quartile
2
5. The median of 10, 14, 11, 9, 8, 12, 6 is
(c) 50 (d) 80
[Kurukshetra CEE 1997]
28. A school has four sections of chemistry in class
XII having 40, 35, 45 and 42 students. The mean (a) 10 (b) 12
marks obtained in chemistry test are 50, 60, 55 (c) 14 (d) 11
and 45 respectively for the four sections, the over 6. The relation between the median M, the second
th
all average of marks per students is quartile Q2 , the fifth decile D5 and the 50
[Pb. CET 2000] percentile P50 , of a set of observations is
(a) 53 (b) 45 [AMU 1990]
(c) 55.3 (d) 52. 25 (a) M  Q 2  D5  P50 (b) M  Q 2  D5  P50
29. The mean of 5 numbers is 18. If one number is
excluded, their mean becomes 16. Then the (c) M  Q 2  D5  P50 (d) None of these
excluded number is 7. For a symmetrical distribution Q1  25 and
[Pb. CET 2001]
Q3  45 , the median is
(a) 18 (b) 25
(a) 20 (b) 25
(c) 26 (d) 30
30. The mean weight per student in a group of seven (c) 35 (d) None of these
students is 55 kg If the individual weights of 6 8. If a variable takes the discrete values
students are 52, 58, 55, 53, 56 and 54; then 7 5 1 1
  4 ,   ,   ,   3,   2,   ,   ,   5 (  0 ) ,
weights of the seventh student is 2 2 2 2
[Pb. CET 2002] then the median is [DCE 1997; Pb. CET 1988]
(a) 55kg (b) 60kg 5 1
(a)   (b)  
(c) 57kg (d) 50kg 4 2
31. The class marks of a distribution are 6,10, 14, 18, 5
22, 26, 30 then the class size is (c)  [Pb.
 2 CET 2004] (d)  
4
(a) 4 (b) 2
9. The upper quartile for the following distribution
(c) 5 (d) 8
Size of
32. Let x 1 , x 2 ,...., x n be n observations such that 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
items
 x i2  400 and  x i  80 . Then a possible value of Frequency 2 4 5 8 7 3 2
n among the following is [AIEEE 2005] is given by the size of
(a) 9 (b) 12
 31  1    31  1 
(c) 15 (d) 18 (a)   th item (b)  2  th item
 4    4 
Median and Mode   31  1    31  1  
(c) 3   th item (d) 4    th item
1. Which one of the following measures of marks is   4    4 
the most suitable one of central location for
10. The median of a set of 9 distinct observations is
computing intelligence of students [Kurukshetra CEE 1995]
20.5. If each of the largest 4 observation of the set is
(a) Mode (b) Arithmetic mean
 1410 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
increased by 2, then the median of the new set 3. If in[AIEEE
a moderately
2003] asymmetrical distribution
(a) Is increased by 2 mode and mean of the data are 6 and 9
(b) Is decreased by 2 respectively, then median is
[Pb. CET 1988]
(c) Is two times the original median
(a) 8 (b) 7
(d) Remains the same as that of the original set
(c) 6 (d) 5
11. For a continuous series the mode is computed by
the formula 4. Which of the following is not a measure of central
tendency
fm 1  f1 
(a) l   C or l   i [Pb. CET 1989]
fm  fm 1  fm 1 f  f  f 
 m 1 2 (a) Mean (b) Median
fm  fm 1 fm  f1 (c) Mode (d) Range
(b) l   C or l  i
fm  fm 1  fm 1 fm  f1  f2 5. The most stable measure of central tendency is
[AMU 1994]
fm  fm 1 fm  f1
(c) l   C or l  i (a) Mean (b) Median
2 fm  fm 1  fm  1 2 fm  f1  f2
(c) Mode (d) None of these
2 fm  fm 1 2 fm  f1 6. Which of the following average is most affected of
(d) l   C or l  i
fm  fm 1  fm 1 fm  f1  f2 extreme observations [DCE 1995]
12. A set of numbers consists of three 4’s, five 5’s, six (a) Mode (b) Median
6’s, eight 8’s and seven 10’s. The mode of this set (c) Arithmetic mean (d) Geometric mean
of numbers is 7. The following data was collected from the
[AMU 1989] newspaper : (percentage distribution)
(a) 6 (b) 7 Servic
Countr Agricultu Industr
(c) 8 (d) 10 e Others
y re y
13. The mode of the following items is 0, 1, 6, 7, 2, 3, s
7, 6, 6, 2, 6, 0, 5, 6, 0 [AMU 1995] India 45 19 28 8
(a) 0 (b) 5 U.K. 3 40 44 13
(c) 6 (d) 2 Japan 6 48 43 3
14. The mode of the distribution [AMU 1988]
U.S.A. 3 35 61 1
Marks 4 5 6 7 8 It is an example of
No. of students 6 7 10 8 3 (a) Data given in text form
(a) 5 (b) 6 (b) Data given in diagrammatic form
(c) 8 (d) 10 (c) Primary data
15. Consider the following statements (d) Secondary
[AIEEE 2004] data
(1) Mode can be computed from histogram 8. The mortality in a town during 4 quarters of a
(2) Median is not independent of change of scale year due to various causes is given below : Based
(3) Variance is independent of change of origin on this data, the percentage increase in mortality
and scale in the third quarter is
Y
Which of these is/are correct
(a) (1), (2) and (3) (b) Only (2)
400
(c) Only (1) and (2) (d) Only (1)
200 250
Relation between mean, median and mode, (a) 40 150
Pie diagram (b) 50
(c) 60 O Jan to April July to Oct X
1. If mean = (3 median – mode) k, then the value of Marc to Sept to
k is (d) 75
h June Dec
(a) 1 (b) 2 9. A market with 3900 operating firms has the
following distribution for firms arranged
(c) 1/2 (d) 3/2
according to various income groups of workers
2. In a moderately asymmetrical distribution the
Income group No. of firms
mode and mean are 7 and 4 respectively. The
median is 150-300 300
(a) 4 (b) 5 300-500 500
(c) 6 (d) 7 500-800 900
800-1200 1000
 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1411

1200-1800 1200 [AMU 1993; DCE 1998]

(a) 0 (b) 1.2
If a histogram for the above distribution is
(c) 5 (d) 25
constructed the highest bar in the histogram
would correspond to the class 6. If the standard deviation of 0, 1, 2, 3, …..,9 is K,
then the standard deviation of 10, 11, 12, 13 …..19
[NDA Sept. 1998]
is
(a) 500-800 (b) 1200-1800 (a) K (b) K + 10
(c) 800-1200 (d) 150-300 (c) K  10 (d) 10K
10. The total expenditure incurred by an industry 7. For a normal distribution if the mean is M, mode
under different heads is best presented as a[NDA 2000] is M 0 and median is M d , then
(a) Bar diagram (b) Pie diagram (a) M  M d  M 0 (b) M  M d  M 0
(c) Histogram (d) Frequency polygon (c) M  M d M 0 (d) M  M d  M 0
11. The expenditure of a family for a certain month
8. For a frequency distribution mean deviation from
were as follows :
mean is computed by [DCE 1994]
Food – Rs.560, Rent – Rs.420, Clothes – Rs.180, d  fd
Education – Rs.160, Other items – Rs.120 (a) M.D.  (b) M.D. 
f f
A pie graph representing this data would show
 f| d| f
the expenditure for clothes by a sector whose (c) M.D.  (d) M.D. 
f  f| d|
angle equals
(a) 180° (b) 90° 9. Quartile deviation for a frequency distribution is
[DCE 1998]
(c) 45° (d) 64° 1
12. Section-wise expenditure of a State Govt. is (a) Q  Q3  Q1 (b) Q 
(Q3  Q1 )
2
shown in the given figure. The expenditure 1 1
incurred on transport is (c) Q  (Q 3  Q1 ) (d) Q  (Q2  Q1 )
3 4
10. The variance of the first n natural numbers is
(a) 25% [AMU 1994; SCRA 2001]
(b) 30% n2  1 n2  1
(a) (b)
(c) 32% 12 6
(d) 35% n2  1 n2  1
(c) (d)
13. If in a frequency distribution, the mean and 6 12
median are 21 and 22 respectively, then its mode 11. For a moderately skewed distribution, quartile
is approximately deviation and the standard deviation are related
[AIEEE 2005] by [AMU 1996]
(a) 25.5 (b) 24.0 2 3
(a) S.D.  Q.D. (b) S.D.  Q.D.
(c) 22.0 (d) 20.5 3 2
3 4
(c) S.D.  Q.D. (d) S.D.  Q.D.
Measures of dispersion 4 3
12. For a frequency distribution standard deviation is
1. The measure of dispersion is [DCE 1998] by applying the formula
computed [Kurukshetra
(a) Mean deviation (b) S.D. CEE 1999]
(c) Quartile deviation (d) All of these 2
  fd   fd 2  fd 2   fd 2 
2. The mean deviation from the median is (a)     (b)    
 
[Kurukshetra CEE 1995, 98]  f  f f  f 
(a) Greater than that measured from any other 2 2
value   fd   fd 2  fd 2   fd 
(c)      (d)     
(b) Less than that measured from any other value  f  f f  f 
(c) Equal to that measured from any other value
13. For a frequency distribution, standard deviation is
(d) Maximum if all observations are positive
computed by
3. The S.D. of 5 scores 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 is [AMU 1991; DCE 2000]
2 3  f (x  x )  f ( x  x )2
(a) (b) (a)   (b)  
5 5 f f
(c) 2 (d) 3  f ( x  x )2  f (x  x )
4. The variance of the data 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 is[AMU 1992] (c)   (d)  
f f
(a) 6 (b) 7
(c) 8 (d) None of these 14. If Q.D. is 16, the most likely value of S.D. will be
5. The mean deviation of the numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is (a) 24 (b) 42
 1412 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
(c) 10 (d) None of these 7 35
(c) , 3 (d) 3,
15. If M.D. is 12, the value of S.D. will be 2 12
(a) 15 (b) 12 25. The standard deviation of 25 numbers is 40. If
(c) 24 (d) None of these each of the numbers is increased by 5, then the
16. The range of following set of observations 2, 3, 5, new standard deviation will be
[DCE 1995]
9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 7, 4, 3 is [DCE 1998]
(a) 40 (b) 45
(a) 11 (b) 7
21
(c) 5.5 (d) 6 (c) 40  (d) None of these
25
17. If v is the variance and  is the standard
26. The S.D of 15 items is 6 and if each item is
deviation, then
decreased or increased by 1, then standard
[Kurukshetra CEE 1995]
deviation will be
(a) v 2   (b) v   2 [Pb. CET 1994,98]
1 1 (a) 5 (b) 7
(c) v  (d) v  2
  (c) 91/15 (d) 6
18. If each observation of a raw data whose variance 27. The quartile deviation for the following data is
is  2 , is multiplied by , then the variance of the x: 2 3 4 5 6
new set is f: 3 4 8 4 1
[Pb. CET 1993] [AMU 1988; Kurukshetra CEE 1999]
1
(a)  2 (b) 2 2 (a) 0 (b)
4
(c)    2 (d) 2   2 1
19. For a given distribution of marks mean is 35.16 (c) (d) 1
2
and its standard deviation is 19.76. The co-
28. The sum of squares of deviations for 10
efficient of variation is
observations taken from mean 50 is 250. The co-
35 . 16 19 .76 efficient of variation is
(a) (b)
19 .76 35 . 16 [DCE 1996]
35 .16 19 . 76 (a) 50% (b) 10%
(c)  100 (d)  100
19 . 76 35 . 16 (c) 40% (d) None of these
20. If 25% of the item are less than 20 and 25% are 29. The means of five observations is 4 and their
more than 40, the quartile deviation is variance is 5.2. If three of these observations are
1, 2 and 6, then the other two are
(a) 20 (b) 30
[AMU 1994]
(c) 40 (d) 10
(a) 2 and 9 (b) 3 and 8
21. For a normal curve, the greatest ordinate is (c) 4 and 7 (d) 5 and 6
(a) 2  (b)  2 30. Consider any set of observations x 1 , x 2 , . x 3 ,. ..., x 101 ;
1 1 it being given that x 1  x 2  x 3  ....  x 100  x 101 ;
(c) (d)
2  2 then the mean deviation of this set of
observations about a point k is minimum when k
22. If the variance of observations x 1 , x 2 , ...... x n is  2 ,
equals [DCE 1997]
then the variance of ax 1 , ax 2 ......., ax n ,   0 is (a) x 1 (b) x 51
(a)  2 (b) a  2 x 1  x 2  ...  x 101
(c) (d) x 50
2 101

(c) a 2  2 (d) 31. For (2n+1) observations x 1 ,  x 1 , x 2 ,  x 2 , ..... x n ,  x n
a2
and 0 where x’s are all distinct. Let S.D. and M.D.
23. The mean deviation from the mean for the set of
denote the standard deviation and median
observations –1, 0, 4 is
respectively. Then which of the following is
14 always true [Orissa JEE 2002]
(a) (b) 2
3 (a) S.D. < M.D.
2 (b) S.D. > M.D.
(c) (d) None of these (c) S.D. = M.D.
3
24. The mean and S.D. of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 is (d) Nothing can be said in general about the
relationship of S.D. and M.D.
7 35 32. Suppose values taken by a variable x are such that
(a) , (b) 3, 3
2 12 a  x i  b , where x i denotes the value of x in the
 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1413
th
i case for i = 1, 2, n. Then [Kurukshetra CEE 1995, 2000] 2n 2 n 1
2  (a) (b)
(a) a  Var(x )  b (b) a  Var(x )  b n 1 n(n  1)
a2 n 1 n
(c)  Var(x ) (d) (b  a)2  Var(x ) (c) (d)
4 2 2
33. The variance of ,  and  is 9, then variance of 3. Mean of 100 observations is 45. It was later found
5, 5 and 5 is that1998]
[AMU two observations 19 and 31 were incorrectly
(a) 45 (b) 9/5 recorded as 91 and 13. The correct mean is
(c) 5/9 (d) 225 (a) 44.0 (b) 44.46
34. A batsman scores runs in 10 innings 38, 70, 48, (c) 45.00 (d) 45.54
34, 42, 55, 63, 46, 54, 44, then the mean deviation is 4. The average of n numbers x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , ......, x n is M. If
[Kerala Engg. 2002] x n is replaced by x , then new average is [DCE
(a) 8.6 (b) 6.4 2000]
(c) 10.6 (d) 9.6 nM  x n  x 
35. What is the standard deviation of the following (a) M  x n  x  (b)
n
series
(n  1)M  x  M  xn  x
[DCE 1996] (c) (d)
n n
Measuremen 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40
ts 5. The following data gives the distribution of height
of students
Frequency 1 3 4 2
Height 16 15 15 16 15 15 15
(a) 81 (b) 7.6
(in cm)
(c) 9 (d) 2.26
Number
36. In an experiment with 15 observations on x, the
of 12 8 4 4 3 3 7
following results were available  x 2  2830 , students
 x  170 . On observation that was 20 was found The median of the distribution is
to be wrong and was replaced by the correct value [AMU 1994]
30. Then the corrected variance is [AIEEE 2003]
(a) 154 (b) 155
(a) 78.00 (b) 188.66 (c) 160 (d) 161
(c) 177.33 (d) 8.33 6. A pie chart is to be drawn for representing the
37. The quartile deviation of daily wages (in Rs.) of 7 following data
persons given below 12, 7, 15, 10, 17, 19, 25 is Items of expenditure Number of families
[Pb. CET 1991, 96; Kurukshetra CEE 1997] Education 150
(a) 14.5 (b) 5
Food and clothing 400
(c) 9 (d) 4.5
House rent 40
38. Karl-Pearson’s coefficient of skewness of a
Electricity 250
distribution is 0.32. Its S.D. is 6.5 and mean 39.6.
Then the median of the distribution is given by Miscellaneous
[Kurukshetra CEE 1991]
160
(a) 28.61 (b) 38.81 The value of the central angle for food and
clothing would
(c) 29.13 (d) 28.31
be
(a) 90° (b) 2.8°
(c) 150° (d) 144°
7. The mean and S.D. of the marks of 200 candidates
were found to be 40 and 15 respectively. Later, it
was discovered that a score of 40 was wrongly
read as 50. The correct mean and S.D.
1. The mean of n items is x . If the first term is respectively are
increased by 1, second by 2 and so on, then new (a) 14.98, 39.95 (b) 39.95, 14.98
mean is [DCE 1998] (c) 39.95, 224.5 (d) None of these
n 1
n
(a) x  n (b) x 
2 8. Let r be the range and S 2 
n 1  (x  x )
i 1
i
2
be the
n 1
(c) x  (d) None of these S.D. of a set of observations x 1 , x 2 , ..... x n , then
2
2. The mean of the values 0, 1, 2,......,n having n n
(a) S  r (b) S  r
n
corresponding weight C0 , n C1 , n C2 ,........ , n Cn n 1 n 1
respectively is [AMU 1990; CET 1998]
 1414 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
n Measures of dispersion
(c) S  r (d) None of these
n 1
9. In a series of 2n observations, half of them equal 1 d 2 b 3 c 4 c 5 b
to a and remaining half equal to –a. If the
6 a 7 d 8 c 9 b 10 a
standard deviation of the observations is 2, then
|a| equals [AIEEE 2004] 11 b 12 d 13 c 14 a 15 a

2 16 b 17 b 18 b 19 d 20 d
(a) (b) 2
n
21 d 22 c 23 b 24 a 25 a
1
(c) 2 (d) 26 d 27 d 28 b 29 c 30 b
n
10. The S.D. of a variate x is . The S.D. of the variate 31 b 32 d 33 d 34 a 35 c
ax  b
where a, b, c are constant, is 36 a [Pb.
37 CET
d 1996]
38 b
c
a a
(a)    (b) 
c c Critical Thinking Questions
 2 
a
(c)  2   (d) None of these 1 c 2 d 3 b 4 b 5 b
c 
6 d 7 b 8 a 9 c 10 b

Mean

1 c 2 c 3 a 4 b 5 c

6 a 7 d 8 d 9 d 10 c

11 d 12 d 13 b 14 d 15 b

16 a 17 b 18 b 19 c 20 d

21 d 22 a 23 c 24 b 25 b

26 c 27 c 28 d 29 c 30 c

31 a 32 d

Median and Mode

1 d 2 b 3 c 4 d 5 a

6 a 7 c 8 a 9 c 10 d

11 c 12 c 13 c 14 b 15 d

Relation between mean, median and mode,

Pie diagram

1 c 2 b 3 a 4 d 5 a

6 c 7 c 8 c 9 b 10 b

11 c 12 b 13 b
 1414 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
n 5
11. (d) H.M.   .
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
  .....     
x1 x 2 xn 3 7 8 10 14
20 20
12. (d)  (x
i 1
i  30 )  20  x
i 1
i  20  30  20

20
Mean
20 x i
620
1. (c) 6 
3  4  x  7  10
 30  24  x  x  6 .
 
i 1
x i  620 . Mean = i 1
20

20
 31 .
5
x i 1 .1 2  2 . 2 2  ......  n.n 2
2. (c) x  , x i  n x 13. (b) Weighted mean =
n 1 2  2 2  ......  n 2
x i x n(n  1) n(n  1)
New mean =   i  x . n 3 3n(n  1)
n n   2 2  .
3. (a) It is obvious. n 2 n(n  1)(2n  1) 2(2n  1)
6
1
4. (b) M g  a  (fid i ) ;  x  a i.e., x = assumed 1 1 1 1 1
fi 1.1  . 2  . 3  . 4  . 5  .....  .n
mean. 14. (d) Mean  2 3 4 5 n
1  2  3  .....  n
5. (c) Let x 1 , x 2 ......, x n be n observations.
1  1  1  1  .....  1 n 2
1 x    .
Then, x  x i let y i  i  10 n(n  1) n(n  1) n  1
n  2 2
n
1 1 1  1
then,
n y i   x i   (10 n)
 n  n 15. (b)
x 1  x 2  .....  x 10
 4.5
i1 10
1 x  10  x 1  x 2  .....  x 10  45
 y x  10  .
 
x 11  x 12  .....  x 40
6. (a) Given, and  3.5
30
(27  x )  (31  x )  (89  x )  (107  x )  (156  x )
82   x 11  x 12  .....  x 40  105
5
 82  5  410  5 x  410  410  5 x  x  0  x 1  x 2  .....  x 40  150
Required mean is,
x 1  x 2  .....  x 40 150 15
130  x  126  x  68  x  50  x  1  x    .
x  40 40 4
5
16. (a) Marks obtained from 3 subjects out of 300
375  5 x 375  0 375
x    = 75. = 75  80  85 = 240
5 5 5
15  24  3 6  4  f If the marks of another subjected is added,
7. (d) Mean = then the marks will be  240 out of 400
54 6  f
240
5  8  18  4 f  Minimum average marks   60 % ,
i.e., 3   45  3 f  31  4 f 4
15  f
[When marks in the fourth subject = 0].
 45  31  f  f  14 .
17. (b) The formula for combined mean is
8. (d) Required mean
n x  n2 x 2
(ax 1  b )  (ax 2  b )  .....  (ax n  b) x  1 1
 n1  n 2
n
a(x 1  x 2  .....  x n )  nb Given, x  30 , x 1  32 , x 2  27
  ax  b,
n Let n1  n 2  100 and n1 denotes men, n 2
 x  x 2  .....  x n  denotes women for this n 2  100  n1
 1  x.
 n 
32 n1  (100  n1 )27 32 n1  2700  27 n 1
30   30 
9. (d) G.M.  (3 . 3 2. 3 3....... 3 n )1 / n 100 100
1/n
 n (n 1)  n 1  3000  2700  32 n 1  27 n1  300  5 n1  n1  60
 (3 1  2  ....... n )1 / n   3 2  3 2 .
  So, n 2  40
 
10. (c) It is a fundamental property. Hence, the percentage of women in the group
is 40.
 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1415
x i n
18. (b) Given,  38 ,  x i  1900
50 x i n

New value of x i  1900  55  45  1800 , n  48 25. (b) We know that x  i1

n
i.e., x
i1
i  nx

1800 n n n
 New mean   37 . 5 .
48  (x
i 1
i  2i) xi 1
i 2 i
i1 n x  2(1  2  ... n)
120  120  120   
19. (c) Average speed  n n n
120 120 120
  n(n  1)
30 25 50 nx  2
3  2  x n 1.
 km / hr . n
1 1 1
  3 48
30 25 50 26. (c) H.M. of 4, 8, 16    6 . 85 .
1 1 1 7
20. (d) Let the weight of the teacher is w kg , then  
4 8 16
1 35  40  w
40   27. (c) Sum of 100 items  49  100  4900
2 35  1
Sum of items added  60  70  80  210
1
 36  40  36   35  40  w  w  58 Sum of items replaced  40  20  50  110
2
New sum  4900  210  110  5000
 Weight of the teacher = 58kg.
5000
21. (d) Let n1 and n 2 be the number of observations in  Correct mean   50 .
100
two groups having means x 1 and x 2
28. (d) Total number of students = 40 + 35 + 45 + 42
n1 x 1  n 2 x 2 = 162
respectively. Then, x 
n1  n 2 Total marks obtained
n1 x 1  n 2 x 2 = (40 × 50) + (35 × 60) + (45 × 55) + (42 ×
Now, x  x 1   x1 45)
n1  n 2
= 8465
n 2 (x 2  x 1 )
  0, [ x 2  x 1 ] Overall average of marks per students
n1  n 2
8465
  52 . 25 .
 x  x1 .....(i) 162
n( x 1  x 2 ) 29. (c) Sum of total number = 18 × 5 = 90
and x  x 2  0,  x 2  x1 
n1  n 2 After one number excluded
 x  x2 ......(ii) Sum of total number = 16 × 4 = 64
Then, excluded number is 90 – 64 = 26.
From (i) and (ii), x 1  x  x 2 .
30. (c) Total weight of 7 students is =55× 7 = 385 kg
22. (a) Let the mean of the remaining 4 observations Sum of weight of 6 students
be x 1 .
= 52 + 58 + 55 + 53 + 56 + 54 = 328
a  4 x1 nM  a kg
Then, M   x1  .
(n  4 )  4 4  Weight of seventh student = 385 – 328 =
n 57kg.
fx
i 1
i i 31. (a) It is obvious.
23. (c) We know that, Mean  n
32. (d) Since, root mean square  arithmetic mean
f i
n n
i1 x i 1
2
i x
i1
i
400 80
1 4  2 5  3  y  4 1  5  2      n  16
i.e., 2 . 6  n n n n
4 5  y 1 2
Hence, possible value of n = 18.
or 31 . 2  2 . 6 y  28  3 y or 0 . 4 y  3 .2  y  8 .
24. (b) Let the average marks of the girls students be Median and Mode
70  75  30  x
x, then 72  (Number of girls 1. (d) It is obvious.
100
=100–70 = 30) 2. (b) It is obvious.
7200  5250 3. (c) It is a formula.
i.e.,  x ;  x = 65. 4. (d) It is a fundamental property.
30
5. (a) Arrange the items in ascending order i.e., 6, 8,
9, 10, 11, 12, 14.
 1416 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
 n 1
th Mode = 3 median – 2 mean
If n is odd then, Median = value of    6  = 3 median – 18   median = 8  .
 2 
term 4. (d) It is a fundamental property.
th 5. (a) It is obvious.
7 1 th
 Median    term  4 term  10 . 6. (c) It is a fundamental property.
 2 
7. (c) Original collected data is called the data in
6. (a) It is obvious.
primary form.
7. (c) As the distribution is symmetrical, therefore,
400  250
Q  Q3 25  45 8. (c) Required percentage   100
Q 2 (Median)  1   35 . 250
2 2
150
8. (a) Arrange the data as   100  60 % .
250
7 5 1 1
  ,   3,   ,   2,   ,   ,   4 ,   5 9. (b) Maximum number of firms is 1200 in the
2 2 2 2 group of 1200-1800. Therefore, highest bar
1 would correspond to 1200-1800 class.
Median  [value of 4 item  value of 5 th item]
th
2 10. (b) It is obvious.
1 5 o
  2   2   180  360  o
2  2 = 5 . 11. (c) Required angle     45 .
 Median   1440 
2 2 4
th 100
 (n  1)  12. (b) Required expenditure   108  30  .
9. (c) Upper Quartile = Size of 3 item 360
 4 
th
13. (b) We know that,
  31  1   Mode = 3 Median – 2 Mean = 3(22) – 2(21)
= Size of 3    item, [ f  31] .
  4  = 66 – 42 = 24.
th
 9 1 
10. (d) Since n = 9, then median term    Measures of dispersion
 2 
 5 th term . 1. (d) It is obvious.
Now, last four observations are increased by 2. (b) It is a fundamental property.
2. 1234 5
3. (c) Mean x  3
th
∵ The median is 5 observation, which is 5
remaining unchanged. 1
 There will be no change in median.
S.D.=  =
n x 2
i  (x )2
11. (c) It is obvious.
1
12. (c) Mode of the data is 8 as it is repeated = (1  4  9  16  25 )  9 = 11  9  2 .
maximum number of times. 5
13. (c) Since 6 occurs most times (i.e., 5 times) than 2  4  6  8  10
4. (c) Here, x  6
any other 15 observations. 5
 Mode = 6. 1
Hence, variance = (x i  x )2
14. (b) Since frequency is maximum for 6.  Mode = n
6. 1
 {( 2  6) 2  (4  6 ) 2  (6  6 ) 2  (8  6 )2  (10  6 )2 }
15. (d) It is obvious. 5
1
Relation between mean, median and mode,  (16  4  0  4  16   1 40   8 .
5 5
Pie diagram
3 4 5 6 7
5. (b) A.M. = 5
1. (c) By the given condition, 5
1 | x i  x |
Mean = (2 mean)k  k  ,  Mean deviation 
2 n
[  Mode =3 median – 2 | 3  5| | 4  5| | 5  5 | | 6  5| | 7  5|
mean]. 
5
2. (b) For a moderately Skewed distribution,
2 10 1 2 6
Mode = 3 median – 2 mean    1 .2 .
5 5
 7 = 3 median – 2× 4  15 = 3 median
6. (a) It is obvious.
 Median = 5.
7. (d) It is obvious.
3. (a) For a moderately Skewed distribution,
8. (c) It is obvious.
 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1417
9. (b) It is obvious. ( N  1)
Q1  th observation
2 4
1  x   x 
10. (a) Variance  (S.D.) 2  x 2    ,  x   th
n  n   n   21 
   observation=3
2  4 
n(n  1) (2n  1)  n(n  1)  n2  1
    .  N 1
6n  2 n  12 Similarly, Q 3  3  th observation
 4 
11. (b) It is obvious.
12. (d) It is obvious.  63 
   th observation = 5
13. (c) It is obvious.  4 
3 Now Q.D.
14. (a) We know that, S.D.  Q.D. 1 1 1
2  Q 3  Q1   Q 3  Q1   (5  3)  1 .
2 2 2
3
 S.D. =  16  24 .
2 250
28. (b) S.D. ( )   25  5
5 5 10
15. (a) We know that Q.D.   M.D.   12  10
6 6 
Hence, coefficient of variation   100
3 3 mean
 S.D.   Q.D.   10  S.D.  15 . 5
2 2  100  10 %. 
16. (b) Range  X max  X min  9  2  7 . 50
29. (c) Let the two unknown items be x and y, then
17. (b) It is obvious. 126x y
18. (b) It is obvious. Mean  4  4
5
19. (d) Coefficient of variation  x  y  11 .....(i)
S.D. 19 . 76
  100   100 . and variance = 5. 2
Mean 35 . 16
12  22  6 2  x 2  y2
20. (d) Here, we are given that the lower quartile   (mean ) 2  5 . 2
5
Q1  20 and the upper quartile Q 3  40
41  x 2  y 2  5[5 . 2  (4 ) 2 ]
Hence quartile deviation
Q 3  Q1 40  20 20 41  x 2  y 2  106
   10 .
2 2 2 x 2  y 2  65 .....(ii)
21. (d) It is obvious. Solving (i) and (ii) for x and y, we get
22. (c) It is obvious. x  4 , y  7 or x  7, y  4 .
1  0  4
23. (b) Mean   1. 30. (b) Mean deviation is minimum when it is
3 considered about the item, equidistant from
Hence M.D. (about mean) the beginning and the end i.e., the median. In
| 1  1 |  | 0  1 |  | 4  1 | 101  1
 2. this case median is th
3 2
st
1234 56 21 7 i.e., 51 item i.e., x 51 .
24. (a) Mean x   
6 6 2 31. (b) On arranging the given observations in
1 ascending order, we get
S.D.    x i2  ( x )2
n All negative terms  O All positive terms
(n 1)th term
1 49
 (1  4  9  16  25  36 )  The median of given observations
6 4
 (n  1) th term = 0
91 49 182  147 35
    .  S. D. > M .D.
6 4 12 12 32. (d) Since S.D.  Range = b – a
25. (a) If each item of a data is increased or  Var (x )  (b  a)2 or (b  a)2  Var (x).
decreased by the same constant, the standard
33. (d) When each item of a data is multiplied by  ,
deviation of the data remains unchanged.
26. (d) If each item of a data is increased or variance is multiplied by  2 .
decreased by the same constant, the standard Hence, new variance  5 2  9  225 .
deviation of the data remains unchanged. 34. (a) Arrange the given data in ascending order,
27. (d) N  (f )  20 We have 34, 38, 42, 44, 46, 48, 54, 55, 63, 70
46  48
Here, median = M =  47
2
th th
( n  10 , median is the mean of 5 and 6 items)
 1418 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
| xi  M |  | x i  47 | Then the mean of the new series is
 Mean deviation   n
n 10 1 1
13  9  5  3  1  1  7  8  16  23 n
y i 
n i 1
( x i  i)
  8.6 .
10 n
1 1
35. (c) 
n x i 
n
(1  2  3  .....  n)
d  yi  A , 2
i1
Class fi yi fidi fidi
A = 25 1 n(n  1) n 1
. x x .
– 40 n 2 2
0-10 1 5 – 20
20 0 2. (d) The required mean is
– 0 . 1  1 . n C 1  2 . n C 2  3 . n C 3  ......  n. n C n
10-20 3 15 – 10 300 x 
30
1  n C 1  n C 2  ....  n C n
20-30 4 25 0 0 0
n n n
30-40 2 35 10 20 200 n
– 90  r. n
Cr  r. r n 1
C r 1 n  n 1
C r 1
Total 10  r 0
 r 1
= r 1
30 0 n n n

2  fid i2   fd 
2
900   30 
2  n
Cr  n
Cr  n
Cr
    i i     r0 r0 r 0
 fi   fi  10  10 
n n. 2 n 1
 2  90  9  81   = 9.  . n

2 2
36. (a)  x  170 ,  x 2  2830 3. (b) Sum of 100 items = 45×100 = 4500
Increase in  x  10 , then  x   170  10  180 Sum of items added = 19 +31 = 50
Increase in  x 2  900  400  500 , then Sum of items replaced = 91+ 13 = 104
 x  2  2830  500  3330 New sum = 4500  104  50 = 4446
2 4446
1   x   New mean  = 44.46
 Variance   x 2    100
n  n 
2 x 1  x 2  x 3 ...... x n
3330  180  4. (b) M 
    222  144  78 . n
15  15 
nM  x 1  x 2  x 3  ...... x n 1  x n
37. (d) The given data in ascending order of
i.e., nM  x n  x 1  x 2  x 3  ...... x n 1
magnitude is 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 25
th nM  x n  x  x1  x 2  x 3  ...... x n 1  x 
 n 1  nd 
Here Q1  size of   item = size of 2 item n n
 4 
nM  x n  x 
= 10  New average  .
th n
 3(n  1)  th
Q3  size of   item = size of 6 item = 5. (b) Arranging the data in ascending order of
 4  magnitude, we obtain
19 Height 15 15 15 16
Q3  Q1 19  10 152 155 161
Then Q.D.    4.5 . (in cm) 0 4 6 0
2 2
Number
M  Mo of 8 4 3 7 3 12 4
38. (b) We know that S k  ,
 students
where M = Mean, M o = Mode,  = S.D. Cumulativ
39 . 6  M o e 8 12 15 22 25 37 41
i.e., 0 . 32   M o  37 . 52 and also frequency
6.5
know that, M o  3median – 2mean Here, total number of items is 41 i.e., an odd
number.
37 . 52  3(Median) – 2(39.6) 41  1 st
Hence, the median is th i.e., 21 item.
Median = 38.81 (approx.). 2
From cumulative frequency table, we find that
Critical Thinking Questions median
st
1 i.e., 21 item is 155,
1. (c) Let x 1 , x 2 , ....... x n be n items. Then, x  x i nd
(All items from 16 to 22 are equal, each
n
155).
Let
6. (d) Required angle for food and clothing
y 1  x 1  1, y 2  x 2  2, y 3  x 3  3,.., y n  x n  n
 Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 1419
400
  360   144  .
1000
7. (b) Corrected x  40  200  50  40  7990
 Corrected x  7990 / 200  39 .95

Incorrect x 2  n [ 2  x 2 ]  200 [15 2  40 2 ]  365000

Correct x 2  365000  2500  1600  364100
364100
 Corrected    (39 . 95 ) 2
200

 (1820 . 5  1596 )  224 . 5  14 . 98 .

8. (a) We have r  max | x i  x j |
ij
n
1
and S 2 
n 1  (x
i1
i  x )2

2
 x  x 2  .....  x n 
Now, ( x i  x ) 2   x i  1 
 n 
1
 2 [( x i  x 1 )  ( x i  x 2 )  ....  ( x i  x i  1)
n
1
( x i  x i  1)  .......  (x i  x n )]  2 [(n  1)r]2 ,
n
[| x i  x j |  r]
n
 ( x i  x )2  r 2   (x
i 1
i  x )2  nr 2

n
1 nr 2 2
  (x i  x )2   S 2  nr
n 1 i 1
(n  1) (n  1)

n
 S r .
n 1
9. (c) Let a, a, ........n times and – a, – a, – a, – a,
........n times i.e., mean = 0 and
n(a  0 )2  n(a  0 )2
S.D. 
2n
na 2  na 2
2  a 2  a . Hence | a |  2 .
2n
ax  b a b
10. (b) Let y  i.e., y  x 
c c c
a b
i.e., y  Ax  B , where A  , B 
c c
 y  Ax  B
 y  y  A( x  x )  (y  y )2  A 2 ( x  x )2
 (y  y )2  A 2 (x  x )2
 n. y2  A 2 .n  x2   y2  A 2 x2
a
  y | A |  x   y  x
c
a
Thus, new S.D.  .
c