ABSTRACT
There are three basic characteristics of frequency distributions: form, central tendency, and variability. This chapter talks about three commonly used measures of central tendency: the mode, the median, and the mean, and discusses how to calculate each. It also discusses the characteristics of each of these measures and when each is appropriate to use in the classroom. Although there are a variety of measures of central tendency, the chapter discusses the three most commonly used: the mode, the median, and the mean. All three of these indices can be used with either samples or populations. Although the mean should be used whenever a choice of central tendency measures is reasonably available, there are times when it is more appropriate to use the other measures. The median is the middle score in a list of ranked scores and may require the use of a cumulative frequency distribution for its calculation.
