When conducting and producing research, the researcher may be in a position where he/she will have to employ the use of statistics. However daunting the task may be, integrating statistics into any research project must be conducted appropriately.
The use of statistics is vital when presenting work. Properly utilized statistics afford the researcher credibility towards the validity and meaning of the data and results. This article aims to provide the reader with examples and suggestions regarding understanding the usage of mean, median, and modeas measures of central tendency
The term, 'Measures of Central Tendency' basically means how the distribution of scores are going to be presented. The measures mean, median, and mode are employed to represent the scores of the data. Measures of central tendency tell the audience where the scores would most likely be clustered in order to represent the most common score (Montcalm and Royse, 2002).
Using Statistics in Research – The Mode
Note: statistical symbol for Mode is Mo
The most widely used measure of central tendency, the mode, is simply presented by identifying what score is the most common. For example, a data set using the scores of 1,1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9 would have a mode of 1. Because there are (2) 1’s and there are only one score represented for the other numbers, then the 1 occurs the most often.
Example # 1:
Data Set: $17, $23, $19, $17, $45, $47, $92, $37, $19
Mode= $17
The amount of $17 occurred most often in this data set above.
Example #2:
The following provides an example of how the above data set could be incorporated into written, scholarly format to present the mode as a measure of central tendency.
While the respondents of this study reported their hourly income range of being between $17 per hour to $92 per hour, there were more respondents of whom reported earning $17 per hour than any other per hour wages (Mo =$17).
Statistics in Research Include Using the Median
Note: statistical symbol for Median is Mdn
When using the median, the calculation and usage becomes a bit more difficult. However, understanding the use of median is important because the data can be presented accurately and with depth. In order to develop a median, one would line up or put in order the scores of a data set and locate the middle two scores and divide by 2.
Example #1:
(EVEN NUMBER OF SCORES IN DATA SET)
Data Set: 0,2,7,6,4,2,8,5,9,10
Data Set arranged in order: 0,2,2,4,5,6,7,8,9,10
Middle Two Scores of data set = 5 and 6
Add 5+6 and then divide by 2 = median
Median = 5.5
Example #2:
(ODD NUMBER OF SCORES IN DATA SET)
Data Set: 8,3,7,1,2,3,1,5,8,0,9
Data Set arranged in order: 0,1,1,2,3,3,5,7,8,8,9
Middle Two Scores of data set = 3 (only equals 3 because the data set is an even number, so the median is automatically 3 in this data set)
Median = 3
Example #3:
The following provides an example of how the above data set could be incorporated into written, scholarly format to present the mode as a measure of central tendency.
Although the respondents from the study reported their years of experience ranging from 0-9 years, the average or median length of years of experience was 3 years (Mdn=3).
Using the Mean in Research
Statistical symbol for mean is M
Thought not as common as the mode, the mean is still considered very common among statistical usage. Locating the mean of a set of scores is fairly simple. The mean basically means the average score of the data set. To find the mean, add up the scores and then divide by the number of scores represented.
Example #1:
Data Set: 8,9,1,2,3,1
Data Set added up: 8+9+1+2+3+1=24
Data Set total divided by number of scores: 24/6=Mean
Mean = 4
Example #2:
The following provides an example of how the above data set could be incorporated into written, scholarly format to present the mean as a measure of central tendency.
The participants were asked to provide a response as to how many children they raised. The responses indicated that the average amount of children that the respondents raised was four children (M=4) with a range being 1-9.
Using the mean, median, and mode in statistics doesn’t have to challenging. Knowing how to incorporate the appropriate usage of measures of central tendency will result in a well-written, respected, and notable document.
Source:
Malcolm D. & Royse, D. (2002). Data Analysis: For Social Workers. New York: Allyn and Bacon.
Jessica McCallister - My name is Jessica McCallister and I live in a little town in Eastern Oregon! I have come to this website to begin my publishing ...
Join the Conversation