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PSY 223 Short Paper
In statistical analysis, the measurements classified as central tendencies are mean,
median, and mode. Mean measures the average, median indicates the number that falls in
the middle when the data is in order from lowest to highest value, and mode indicates
which value shows up most often. Each tendency has its strength depending on the
situation. If your data set contains outliers or is composed of categories, you’ll want to
use mode. However, if you are seeking the average for a large group of data, then mean is
the way to go. Researchers must make the same decisions when collecting data and
presenting studies. How can we best explain this to the public? How can we take all these
numbers and help them make sense?
This is exactly what Jan Fuhse and Sophie Mützel sought to answer in their 2011 study,
“Tackling connections, structure, and meaning in networks: quantitative and qualitative
methods in sociological network research” (Fuhse & Mützel, 2011). Noticing that there
was s distinct lack of quality data for sociological research, they set out to combine
quantitative statistical analysis with qualitative descriptions. Statistical measures allow
sociologists such as Fuhse and Mützel to look at patterns in current social structures and
find the embedded correlations.
In their paper, Fuhse and Mützel cite various studies where qualitative and quantitative
data have been coupled together in order to explain data for patterns in society. In one
study, researchers Bearman and Parigi, analyze what conversations married couples tend
to have with their friends and what topics are most often covered. They were most
concerned with the differences in what men and women choose to discuss.

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“For this, the answers to the second, open question were coded into nine domains
of topics from general news and political issues to relationships and religion, thus
quantifying the qualitative results. Most importantly, Bearman and Parigi’s
analysis shows a number of gender effects:
married women (try to) talk about relationships with their husbands while
their hus- bands talk about relationships with their friends. Similarly,
married men report (mono- logue?) conversations about ideological issues
with their wives, the latter whom report talking about ideological issues
with their acquaintances. (2004, p. 544) “
-Fuhse & Mützel, 2011
The central tendency used by these researchers is the mode. At first, the use of
qualitative descriptions mixed with statistical analysis made it more difficult to
recognize which tendency was being used. However, once I realized that the
researchers were focusing on a) categories and b) the values that showed up most
often, I understood that they must have been utilizing mode.

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References
Aron, A., Coups, E., & Aron, E. (2013). Statistics for Psychology (6th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearsons Education.
Fuhse, J., & Mützel, S. (2011). Tackling connections, structure, and meaning in
networks: Quantitative and qualitative methods in sociological network research.
Quality and Quantity, 45(5), 1067-1089. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11135-011-9492-
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