Difference Between Mean, Median and Mode

Mean, Median, and Mode are ways to find the middle or central value in a set of numbers. They help summarize numerical data by calculating a single value that represents the center of the data.

In this article, we'll explore what Mean, Median, and Mode are, and how they differ from each other.

Introduction

Central Tendency is a way to find the middle or average value in a group of numbers. There are different ways to measure Central Tendency. Some common ones are Mean, Median, and Mode.

Mean

Mean is a type of central tendency that finds the average of a group of numbers. To get the mean, you add up all the numbers in the group and then divide the total by how many numbers there are.

For example: If you have a group of numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), you add them up (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = 15), then divide by how many numbers there are (5). So, 15 divided by 5 equals 3. Therefore, the mean of this set is 3.

If any number in the group changes, the mean value will also change. Mean is an important concept in math. It gives us a way to understand the average value of a set of numbers.

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Median

The median is a way to find the middle value in a set of numbers. First, you sort the numbers in order from smallest to largest. If there's an odd number of numbers, the median is the middle one. If there's an even number, you average the two middle numbers to find the median.

Steps to Calculate Median:

Step 1: Sort the numbers. Example: If your numbers are 3, 7, 9, 2, 4, 6, 8, you arrange them in order: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9.

Step 2: Count how many numbers there are. In our example, there are 7 numbers.

Step 3: Determine if the count is odd or even. Since we have 7 numbers (which is odd), the median is the middle number, which is 6.

Mode

The mode is the number that appears most often in a set of numbers. It's the number you see the most times.

Name

Score

Rohan

80

Sohan

80

Rajiv

50

Vishnu

45

Saurav

80

Taya

65

Anaya

45

From the above dataset, we can say that:

Number

Times Occurred

80

3

65

1

50

1

45

2

 

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So, the mode of the above data set is 80. 

To calculate “Mode” we will first count the number of times each number occurs in the set of numbers. Then we will check which number has occurred the most number of times. If there are two numbers which have occurred the most then it will be considered as “Bimodal Mode”.

Name

Score

Rohan

80

Sohan

80

Rajiv

50

Vishnu

45

Saurav

45

Taya

65

Anaya

45

 

From the data we have, the numbers 80 and 45 appear most frequently, each appearing three times. This makes them both the "Mode" of the dataset, known as Bimodal Mode.

The "Mode" is important in statistics because it tells us the most common value in a set of numbers. It's also useful for categorical data, like finding the most popular color among students. For example, if we survey students' favorite colors, the Mode would be the color that most students like the best.

Difference Between Mean, Median and Mode

S.No

Mean

Median 

Mode

1.

It is an average set of data. 

It is a middle value of a set of data when it is sorted in ascending or descending order. 

The frequently occurring value in a dataset. 

2. 

Denoted by single value. 

Also, Denoted by single value. 

Denoted by multiple values if there are multiple modes. 

3. 

Value is affected by the units of measurement used for the data

Value is not affected by the units of measurement used for the data.

Value is not affected by the unit of measurement used for the data



 

Central Tendency

Definition

Formula

Interpretation

Mean

Arithmetic Average of the values in dataset

Sum of values/ number of values

Determines the value in the set of data

Median

Middle value in the dataset

n+1/2th value when sorted

Determines the center value in the dataset

Mode

Most occurred Value in the dataset. 

Values that appear most frequently

Determines the most common value in the dataset. 

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Frequently Asked Questions on Difference Between Mean, Median and Mode

The average of a set of numbers, known as the mean, is calculated by adding all the numbers together and dividing by how many numbers there are. The median is the middle number in a set when the numbers are placed in order from smallest to largest. The mode is the number that appears most frequently in a set of data.

The arithmetic mean is calculated by adding up all the numbers in a list and then dividing that total by how many numbers are in the list. It's what people usually mean when they talk about an average. The median is the middle number in a list that's been arranged from smallest to largest. The mode is the number that appears most often in the list.

Mode = 3 median - 2 mean. The empirical relationship between Mean, Median and Mode is: Mode = 3 median - 2 mean.

The formula of  Mean, Median and Mode is: Mode = 3 median - 2 mean.