Skip to main content icon/video/no-internet

The grand mean is most often used in the computation of the F value in analysis of variance, or ANOVA. It is the overall mean from which group means are subtracted when computing the between-group variance. The between-group variance and the within-group variance are the two variance estimates that are used to create the F ratio. The grand mean can also be used as an estimate of the average of all the scores in a group.

Table 1 Sample Data for Computing the Means and Grand Mean
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
6 7 8
4 6 7
5 5 6
6 3 5
5 4 6
4 5 5
3 3 4
4 2 4
5 3 3
6 3 3
Group Average 4.8 4.1 5.1
Grand Mean 4.7

For example, Table 1 shows three sets of 10 scores along with the mean for each of the groups. The grand, or overall, mean is shown in this table as well.

Neil J. Salkind
  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles

Sage Recommends

We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.

Loading