Definition

Any data set can be described using three metrics:
Centering – Mean, median or mode
Spread – Range, mean square, standard deviation or variance
Shape – The statistical distribution the data best “fits”

Central Tendency refers to the tendency of any set of data gathered from a process to cluster around the central value. The statistics that indicate the centering or location of a distribution are the mean, median and mode of the distribution.

Examples

 

        Mode = M_o
       Median = M_d
         Mean = M_n

Application

For a symmetric distribution: Mean = Median = Mode

For a right-skewed distribution: Mode < Median < Mean

For a left-skewed distribution: Mean < Median < Mode

External Links

Measures of Central Tendency from HyperStat Online: - http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/A39322.html