Find the mean deviation about the mean for the following data:
| xi | fi |
|---|---|
| 10 | 4 |
| 30 | 24 |
| 50 | 28 |
| 70 | 16 |
| 90 | 8 |
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🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Concept understanding — Mean Deviation About Mean
Mean Deviation About Mean – The Intuition First
Imagine you have a small set of numbers: the marks of five students in a test: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12. The average (mean) is 8. Now, each student is some distance away from this average. The student who scored 4 is 4 marks below the mean; the one who scored 12 is 4 marks above. The student who scored 8 is exactly at the mean.
If you simply add these distances, the positives and negatives cancel out — you get zero. That's not useful. So instead, we ask: on average, how far is each data point from the mean? That's the mean deviation about mean.
Mean deviation is a measure of spread or dispersion. It tells you how scattered the data is around the central value. A small mean deviation means most data points are close to the mean; a large one means they are spread out.
The Precise Definition
For a set of n observations x1,x2,…,xn with mean xˉ, the mean deviation about mean (often written as MD or M.D.) is:
MD(xˉ)=n1∑i=1n∣xi−xˉ∣
That vertical bars mean absolute value — we take the distance without caring about direction. So every deviation is positive.
Mean Deviation about Mean=n∑∣xi−xˉ∣
Step-by-Step Calculation
Let's use the marks example: 4, 6, 8, 10, 12.
Step 1: Find the mean.
xˉ=54+6+8+10+12=540=8
Step 2: Find each absolute deviation ∣xi−xˉ∣.
| xi | xi−xˉ | ∣xi−xˉ∣ |
|------|----------------|-------------------|
| 4 | -4 | 4 |
| 6 | -2 | 2 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | 4 | 4 |
Step 3: Sum the absolute deviations.
4+2+0+2+4=12
Step 4: Divide by n=5.
MD=512=2.4
So, on average, each student's mark is 2.4 marks away from the mean of 8.
Notice that the mean deviation is always less than or equal to the standard deviation (another measure of spread). For this data, standard deviation is about 2.83, which is larger than 2.4. This is because standard deviation squares deviations, giving more weight to extreme values.
Why Use Absolute Values?
You might wonder: why not just average the plain deviations (without absolute value)? Because the sum of (xi−xˉ) is always zero — that's a property of the mean. The absolute value is the simplest way to make all deviations positive so they don't cancel.
A common mistake: forgetting to take absolute values and getting zero. Always check: if your sum of deviations is zero, you forgot the absolute value.
When Is This Used?
Mean deviation is intuitive and easy to explain. It's used in:
- Quality control (checking how consistent a manufacturing process is) …
Concept: Mean Deviation About Mean — we first compute the mean of the grouped data, then find the average of the absolute deviations from that mean.
Step 1: Compute the mean xˉ.
xˉ=∑fi∑fixi=4+24+28+16+810⋅4+30⋅24+50⋅28+70⋅16+90⋅8
=8040+720+1400+1120+720=804000=50
Step 2: Find the absolute deviations ∣xi−xˉ∣ and multiply by fi.
Mean deviation about the mean measures the average absolute distance of each data point from the mean. For this grouped data, the mean is 50, and the mean deviation is 16.
The mean deviation about the mean tells you, on average, how far each observation is from the central value — but without caring whether it’s above or below (that’s why we take absolute values). For grouped data, we first find the mean, then compute the weighted sum of absolute deviations, and finally divide by the total frequency.
Let’s work through it step by step.
- Find the total number of observations Add up all the frequencies:
N=4+24+28+16+8=80
-
Compute the mean (xˉ)
The mean for grouped data is xˉ=∑fi∑fixi.
First, calculate each fixi:
- 10×4=40
- 30×24=720
- 50×28=1400
- 70×16=1120
- 90×8=720
Sum them: ∑fixi=40+720+1400+1120+720=4000
So the mean is:
xˉ=804000=50
Notice the data is symmetric around 50 — the frequencies rise then fall evenly. That’s a quick check that the mean is indeed 50.
-
Find the absolute deviations from the mean
For each xi, compute ∣xi−xˉ∣:
- ∣10−50∣=40
- ∣30−50∣=20
- ∣50−50∣=0
- ∣70−50∣=20
- ∣90−50∣=40
-
Multiply each absolute deviation by its frequency …
Showing the 12 most recent of 18 on this concept.
- AP EAPCET 2026Set eng-2026-05-12-AN1 markMCQQ.If R is the range, xˉ is the arithmetic mean and M is the mean deviation from the mean of the data 15,28,3,1,36,10,6,21, then MR−xˉ= (A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 4 (D) 5
›Reveal solutionSolution
Compute the range, mean, and mean deviation about the mean directly from the eight data values, then form the ratio. Answer: 2.
Concept and Intuition
This is a direct application of three basic descriptive-statistics definitions on a small dataset: range = max − min, arithmetic mean = sum/n, and mean deviation from the mean = average of the absolute deviations ∣xi−xˉ∣.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Data: 15,28,3,1,36,10,6,21 (n=8).
- Range: R=max−min=36−1=35.
- Sum =15+28+3+1+36+10+6+21=120, so xˉ=8120=15.
- Absolute deviations from the mean: ∣15−15∣=0, ∣28−15∣=13, ∣3−15∣=12, ∣1−15∣=14, ∣36−15∣=21, ∣10−15∣=5, ∣6−15∣=9, ∣21−15∣=6. …
- AP EAPCET 2026Set eng-2026-05-13-FN1 markMCQQ.The mean deviation about the mean for the following data is
xi 1 2 4 7 fi 3 2 4 1 (A) 3 (B) 2 (C) 1.5 (D) 1.6 ›Reveal solutionSolution
Compute the mean, then the frequency-weighted mean absolute deviation. Answer: 1.6.
Concept and Intuition
Mean deviation about the mean measures the average absolute distance of the data values from their mean, weighted by how often each value occurs.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Total frequency N=3+2+4+1=10.
- Mean xˉ=101(3)+2(2)+4(4)+7(1)=103+4+16+7=1030=3.
- Absolute deviations ∣xi−xˉ∣: for x=1, ∣1−3∣=2; x=2, ∣2−3∣=1; x=4, ∣4−3∣=1; x=7, ∣7−3∣=4.
- Multiply by frequency and sum: 2(3)+1(2)+1(4)+4(1)=6+2+4+4=16. …
- AP EAPCET 2026Set eng-2026-05-15-FN1 markMCQQ.The mean of 5 observations is 5. If three of the observations are 1, 2, 6 and the other two observations are such that each is greater than 5, then the mean deviation from the mean of the observations is (A) 2.8 (B) 2.6 (C) 2.5 (D) 2.4
›Reveal solutionSolution
The two unknown observations' individual values don't matter — only their sum (found from the mean) and the fact that both exceed 5, which fixes the total absolute deviation.
Concept and Intuition
Mean deviation from the mean is n1∑∣xi−xˉ∣. When we don't know two of the observations individually but know they're both above the mean, their contribution to ∑∣xi−xˉ∣ is just (their sum)−2×(mean), since each ∣xi−5∣=xi−5 when xi>5.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Mean =5 over 5 observations ⇒ total sum =25.
- Known observations 1,2,6 sum to 9, so the other two, say p,q, satisfy p+q=25−9=16.
- Each of p,q>5, so ∣p−5∣+∣q−5∣=(p−5)+(q−5)=(p+q)−10=16−10=6.
- Deviations of the known three: ∣1−5∣=4, ∣2−5∣=3, ∣6−5∣=1, summing to 8. …
- AP EAPCET 2025Set eng-2025-05-22-FN1 markMCQQ.The following data represents the frequency distribution of 20 observationsThen its mean deviation about the mean is (A) 3 (B) 2.4 (C) 2.7 (D) 2.9
xi 3 4 5 8 10 11 fi α+2 (α−1)2 4 α−1 2 α ›Reveal solutionSolution
First pin down α using ∑fi=20, then compute the mean and finally the mean deviation about the mean; the answer is 2.7.
Concept and Intuition
Mean deviation about the mean measures the average absolute distance of the data points from the mean, weighted by frequency. Before we can compute anything we must first determine the unknown α using the fact that the frequencies must add to the total number of observations (20 here).
Step-by-Step Solution
- Find α. Sum the frequencies:
(α+2)+(α−1)2+4+(α−1)+2+α=20
Expand (α−1)2=α2−2α+1:
α+2+α2−2α+1+4+α−1+2+α=α2+α+8
So α2+α+8=20⇒α2+α−12=0⇒(α+4)(α−3)=0.
Thus α=3 or α=−4. Since α=−4 makes α−1=−5<0 (a frequency cannot be negative), we take α=3.
- Frequencies with α=3:
fi: α+2=5, (α−1)2=4, 4, α−1=2, 2, α=3
Check: 5+4+4+2+2+3=20. ✓
- Compute the mean. ∑fixi=5(3)+4(4)+4(5)+2(8)+2(10)+3(11)=15+16+20+16+20+33=120 …
- AP EAPCET 2025Set eng-2025-05-24-FN1 markMCQQ.The mean deviation about the mean for the following data is:
Class Interval 0-2 2-4 4-6 6-8 8-10 Frequency 1 3 4 1 2 (A) 3 (B) 1120 (C) 1140 (D) 2 ›Reveal solutionSolution
Standard grouped-data mean deviation about the mean; works out to 1120, option (B).
Concept and Intuition
For grouped data, each class is represented by its midpoint. Mean deviation about the mean measures the average absolute distance of the data (via midpoints) from the overall mean, weighted by frequency.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Midpoints: 0−2→1, 2−4→3, 4−6→5, 6−8→7, 8−10→9.
- N=∑f=1+3+4+1+2=11.
- ∑fx=1(1)+3(3)+4(5)+1(7)+2(9)=1+9+20+7+18=55.
- Mean xˉ=1155=5.
- Absolute deviations ∣x−xˉ∣: 4,2,0,2,4. …
- AP EAPCET 2025Set eng-2025-05-26-AN1 markMCQQ.The mean deviation from the median for the following data is: xi: 9, 3, 7, 2, 5; fi: 1, 6, 2, 8, 4 (A) 2194 (B) 712 (C) 710 (D) 21100
›Reveal solutionSolution
Find the median from the cumulative frequency, then average the absolute deviations of each value from it, weighted by frequency.
Concept and Intuition
Mean deviation about the median measures the average absolute spread of data around its middle value. For grouped/discrete frequency data, first locate the median using cumulative frequencies, then compute ∑fi∑fi∣xi−median∣.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Arrange the data in increasing order of xi with their frequencies: x=2(f=8), x=3(f=6), x=5(f=4), x=7(f=2), x=9(f=1).
- Total frequency N=8+6+4+2+1=21.
- Cumulative frequencies: at x=2: 8; at x=3: 14; at x=5: 18; at x=7: 20; at x=9: 21.
- Since N=21 is odd, the median is the 2N+1=11th observation. The 11th observation lies in the x=3 bracket (positions 9–14), so median =3. …
- AP EAPCET 2024Set eng-2024-05-19-AN1 markMCQQ.If m and M denote the mean deviations about mean and about median respectively of the data 20, 5, 15, 2, 7, 3, 11 then the mean deviation about the mean of m and M is (A) 71 (B) 738 (C) 736 (D) 737
›Reveal solutionSolution
Compute the mean deviation about the mean (m) and about the median (M) of the given 7 numbers, then treat {m,M} itself as a 2-point dataset and find its mean deviation about its mean; the answer is 71.
Concept and Intuition
Mean deviation about a central value A is n1∑∣xi−A∣. Here we must compute it twice for the original data (about mean, then about median) to get two numbers m and M, and then apply the same idea to this new 2-element dataset {m,M}.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Data: 20,5,15,2,7,3,11, so n=7 and Mean=720+5+15+2+7+3+11=763=9.
- Absolute deviations from the mean: 11,4,6,7,2,6,2. Sum =38, so m=738.
- Sort the data: 2,3,5,7,11,15,20. The median (4th of 7 values) is 7.
- Absolute deviations from the median: 13,2,8,5,0,4,4. Sum =36, so M=736.
- Now find the mean deviation about the mean of the two-element set {m,M}={738,736}. Their mean is 21(738+736)=737. …
- AP EAPCET 2024Set eng-2024-05-20-AN1 markMCQQ.If the mean deviation about the mean is m and variance is σ2 for the following data, then m+σ2=
x 1 3 5 7 9 f 4 24 28 16 8 (A) 8 (B) 7.2 (C) 528 (D) 6 ›Reveal solutionSolution
Compute the mean, then the mean deviation about the mean, and the variance from the frequency table; their sum is 6.
Concept and Intuition
For grouped/discrete frequency data, mean =Σfx/n, mean deviation about the mean =Σf∣x−xˉ∣/n, and variance =Σfx2/n−xˉ2. These are direct formula applications once the table sums are computed correctly.
Step-by-Step Solution
- n=Σf=4+24+28+16+8=80.
- Σfx=1(4)+3(24)+5(28)+7(16)+9(8)=4+72+140+112+72=400. Mean xˉ=400/80=5.
- ∣x−xˉ∣: for x=1,3,5,7,9 these are 4,2,0,2,4.
- Σf∣x−xˉ∣=4(4)+24(2)+28(0)+16(2)+8(4)=16+48+0+32+32=128. So m=128/80=1.6.
- Σfx2=1(4)+9(24)+25(28)+49(16)+81(8)=4+216+700+784+648=2352. …
- AP EAPCET 2024Set eng-2024-05-21-FN1 markMCQQ.Mean deviation about the mean for the following data is: Class Interval: 0-6, 6-12, 12-18, 18-24, 24-30; Frequency: 1, 2, 3, 2, 1 (A) 5 (B) 316 (C) 6 (D) 319
›Reveal solutionSolution
This tests mean deviation about the mean for grouped data; the answer is 316.
Concept and Intuition
For grouped data, use the class midpoint as the representative value of each class. Mean deviation about the mean is the frequency-weighted average of the absolute deviations of each midpoint from the overall mean.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Midpoints: 3,9,15,21,27 for classes 0–6,6–12,12–18,18–24,24–30; frequencies 1,2,3,2,1; Σf=9.
- Σfx=1(3)+2(9)+3(15)+2(21)+1(27)=3+18+45+42+27=135.
- Mean =9135=15.
- Absolute deviations from 15: ∣3−15∣=12, ∣9−15∣=6, ∣15−15∣=0, ∣21−15∣=6, ∣27−15∣=12. …
- AP EAPCET 2023Set eng-2023-05-18-FN1 markMCQQ.Which one of the following is false? (A) Mean deviation from the mean and the Mean deviation from the Median must always be equal. (B) The measure of variability which is a number independent of units, is called the coefficient of variation (C) The coefficient of variation is a relative measure of variation (D) Among two given data, the one having greater coefficient of variation is said to have more variability than the other.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Mean deviation is minimised when measured from the median, not the mean, so the two are generally different — statement (A) is the false one.
Concept and Intuition
Among all measures ∑∣xi−a∣, the value of a that minimises the sum is the median (a classical result in statistics), while a=xˉ minimises ∑(xi−a)2. So mean deviation from the median is always ≤ mean deviation from the mean, with equality only in special (e.g. symmetric) distributions — not always.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Statement (A) claims MD(mean) = MD(median) always — this contradicts the minimising property of the median described above, so it is false in general.
- Statement (B): the coefficient of variation is indeed defined as a unit-independent relative measure — true.
- Statement (C): CV is explicitly a relative measure of dispersion — true. …
- AP EAPCET 2023Set eng-2023-05-19-FN1 markMCQQ.The mean deviation from the mean for the data 6,7,10,12,13,4,12,16 is (A) 3.25 (B) 3.52 (C) 3.33 (D) 2.35
›Reveal solutionSolution
Compute the mean, then average the absolute deviations from it. Answer: (A).
Concept and Intuition
Mean deviation about the mean measures the average absolute distance of data points from their mean — a direct measure of spread that treats deviations above and below the mean symmetrically (unlike variance, which squares them).
Step-by-Step Solution
- Data: 6,7,10,12,13,4,12,16 (n=8).
- Sum =6+7+10+12+13+4+12+16=80. Mean =80/8=10.
- Absolute deviations from mean: ∣6−10∣=4, ∣7−10∣=3, ∣10−10∣=0, ∣12−10∣=2, ∣13−10∣=3, ∣4−10∣=6, ∣12−10∣=2, ∣16−10∣=6. …
- AP EAPCET 2022Set eng-2022-07-04-AN1 markMCQQ.If the mean of the data p,6,6,7,8,11,15,16, is 3 times p, then the mean deviation of the data from its mean is (A) 2.25 (B) 3.75 (C) 4.4 (D) 2.5
›Reveal solutionSolution
Solving for p from the mean condition gives p=3, mean =9, and the mean deviation about the mean works out to 3.75.
Concept and Intuition
Mean deviation about the mean is the average of the absolute differences between each data value and the mean; first the unknown value must be pinned down using the given mean condition.
Step-by-Step Solution
- Sum of data: p+6+6+7+8+11+15+16=p+69.
- Mean =8p+69, and this equals 3p: 8p+69=3p⇒p+69=24p⇒69=23p⇒p=3.
- So the mean is 3p=9, and the data is 3,6,6,7,8,11,15,16. …
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