Below is given distribution of profit in Rs. per day of a shop in certain town: Calculate median profit of a shop.

Below is given distribution of profit in Rs. per day of a shop in certain town: Calculate median profit of a shop.

Profit (in Rs.) 500 - 900 1000 - 1400 1500 - 1900 2000 - 2400 2500 - 2900 3000 - 3400 3500 - 3900
No. of shops 8 18 27 21 20 18 8

Solution:

Class
(Profit in Rs.)
Continuous
Classes
Frequency ($f_i$)
(No. of shops)
Cumulative frequency
less than type
500 - 900 450 - 950 8 8
1000 - 1400 950 - 1450 18 26
1500 - 1900 1450 - 1950 27 53 → $c.f.$
2000 - 2400 1950 - 2450 21 → $f$ 74
2500 - 2900 2450 - 2950 20 94
3000 - 3400 2950 - 3450 18 112
3500 - 3900 3450 - 3950 8 120
Total 120 → $N$

Here total frequency $= \sum f_i = N = 120$

$\frac{N}{2} = \frac{120}{2} = 60$

Cumulative frequency (less than type) which is just greater than $60$ is $74$. Therefore corresponding class $1950 - 2450$ is median class.

$L = 1950$, $N = 120$, $c.f. = 53$, $f = 21$, $h = 500$

$$ \begin{aligned} \text{Median} &= L + \left( \frac{\frac{N}{2} - c.f.}{f} \right) h \quad \text{(or equivalently)} \quad L + \left( \frac{N}{2} - c.f. \right) \frac{h}{f} \\[8pt] &= 1950 + \left( \frac{120}{2} - 53 \right) \frac{500}{21} \\[8pt] &= 1950 + (60 - 53) \frac{500}{21} \\[8pt] &= 1950 + (7) \times \frac{500}{21} \\[8pt] &= 1950 + \frac{500}{3} \\[8pt] &= 1950 + 166.67 \\[8pt] &= 2116.67 \end{aligned} $$
Median of profit is Rs. 2116.67.