Mean, median and mode are three kinds of averages. Each provides you with a different type of information about a distribution of scores but they are fairly simple to compute and interpret.  

 

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The Mean

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The Mean is the average of all the scores in your data set.

• 1) Add the numbers.    3+ 3+ 4+ 5+ 6 = 21

• 2) Divide by how many numbers were in the list.  There are 5 numbers in this list.       21 / 5 = 4.2

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                       The Mean (Average) is 4.2

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The Median

The Median is the number in the middle of the list.
To calculate the median:

• First, put the numbers in order.   3, 3, 4, 5, 6

• The number in the middle is 4.  

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     The Median is 4

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If a set of numbers has an even number of elements, the median is the mean of the middle two numbers.

• In this set of numbers,  (2,3,4,5,5,6), 4 and 5 are in the middle.

• Calculate the  mean of those two numbers

• 4+5 = 9

• 9 / 2 = 4.5 

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The Median is 4.5

 

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The Mode

The Mode is the number that appears the most often.

• 3, 3, 4, 5, 6

• 3 appears twice the other numbers only once.

• A data set can have more than one mode or no mode at all.

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The Mode is 3

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