Skip to main content

Measures of Central Tendency

  • Chapter
Fundamentals of Statistics

Abstract

In Chapter 2 we showed how to reduce a mass of data to a more understandable form by classifying or grouping it and then depicting it diagrammatically. In this and the next chapter we shall consider certain statistical parameters which measure the principal characteristics of a distribution. The first parameter is a measure of the centre of a distribution. As we have seen in section 3.6 the mean (arithmetic mean) μ of a distribution is equal to the expectation of x. Also the sample mean is an estimate of μ so that it is natural to use the mean or the sample mean as an estimate of central tendency.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1968 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mulholland, H., Jones, C.R. (1968). Measures of Central Tendency. In: Fundamentals of Statistics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6507-3_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-6507-3_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-6240-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-6507-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics