Measures of Central Tendency

Objectives:
• Calculate the mean of a set of data.
• Calculate the median of a set of data.
• Calculate the mode of a set of data.

Vocabulary: Formulas:
• central tendency x = (mean)
• summation notation
• mean
• median
x = (mean of grouped data)
• mode
• outlier

Possible Classroom Examples:

Fran Tarkenton holds the all-time record in professional football for

throwing touchdown passes. The number of touchdown passes (TDs) for
each of his seasons is given in the table. Find the mean, median, and mode of
the number of touchdown passes per year thrown by Tarkenton

Year TDs Year TDs

1961 18 1970 19
1962 22 1971 11
1963 15 1972 18
1964 22 1973 15
1965 19 1974 17
1966 17 1975 25
1967 29 1976 17
1968 21 1977 9
1969 23 1978 25
Todd Booth, an avid jogger, kept detailed records of the number of miles he
ran per week during the past year. The frequency distribution summarizes

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his records. Find the mean, median, and mode of the number of miles per
week that Todd ran.

Miles run Number

per week of weeks
0 5
1 4
2 10
3 9
4 10
5 7
6 3
7 4

If your scores on the first four exams in a class are 73, 67, 83, and 81, what
score do you need on the next exam for your overall mean to be at least 70?

The mean salary of ten employees is $28,000, and the median is $25,000.
The highest paid employee gets a $5,000 raise.
a. What is the new mean salary of the ten employees?
b. What is the new median salary of the ten employees?

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