descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency

Question 1

What are the 3 measures of central tendency?

Answer 1

mean
mode
median

Question 2

What is the mean?

Answer 2

All scores added up and divided by the number of scores, used when there are no extremes of data

Question 3

What are the advantages of the mean?

Answer 3

• sensitive measure
• representative as all values are used

Question 4

What are the disadvantages of the mean?

Answer 4

• can be misleading if there are extreme scores
• often not an original score in the data set

Question 5

What is the median?

Answer 5

The central score, worked out by arranging the scores in order and if there’s an odd amount, the median is the middle, if even, the middle value of the two middle scores

Question 6

What are the advantages of the median?

Answer 6

• not affected by extreme scores
• easier to work out

Question 7

What are the disadvantages of the median?

Answer 7

• not as sensitive as the mean as not all raw scores considered
• not representative of the data set

Question 8

What is the mode?

Answer 8

The most frequently occurring score used when there are a limited number of data scores or when the data is nominal

Question 9

What are the advantages of the mode?

Answer 9

• unaffected by extreme scores
• easy to work out

Question 10

What are the disadvantages of the mode?

Answer 10

• often more than one mode
• can be unreliable, often gives an inaccurate picture