In statistics, a central tendency (or, more commonly, a measure of central tendency) is a central or typical value for a probability distribution.It may also be called a center or location of the distribution.Colloquially, measures of central tendency are often called averages.hat is, given a measure of statistical dispersion, one asks for a measure of central tendency that minimizes variation: such that variation from the center is minimal among all choices of center. In a quip, dispersion precedes location.