Measures of Central Tendency Flashcards
What are the three measures of central tendency?
Mean, median and mode
How do you calculate the mean?
By adding all the scores together and then dividing by the number of scores
What is a strength of the mean?
It is the most powerful of the measures of central tendency available as it takes all of the scores into account
What is a limitation of the mean?
It can be misleading if there are one or more extreme scores
How do you calculate the median?
You arrange the numbers into order and the middle score is the median. If there are two middle numbers, then you find the number between the two
What is a strength of the median?
It is unaffected by extreme scores
What are two limitations of the median?
It may be unreliable with small sets of data and it’s not as sensitive as not all scores are used
How do you calculate the mode?
The common score
What are two strengths of the mode?
It shows the most important and it’s not affected by extreme scores
What are two limitations of the mode?
It doesn’t work well with small sets of data and there may not be a single mode
