How To Calculate And Interpret The Median In Statistics

Median

A segment that connects a vertex of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite angle

The median is a statistical measure that represents the middle value in a dataset when the data is arranged in order of magnitude. It is the value that divides the data set into two equal halves; half the values are greater than the median, and half the values are less than the median.

To calculate the median, first arrange the data in ascending or descending order. If the data set contains an odd number of values, the median is the value at the center of the sorted data set. If the data set contains an even number of values, the median is the average of the two central values.

The median is more robust to outliers compared to the mean because it is not affected by extreme values. It is often used in skewed distributions, where the mean may not be a representative measure of central tendency.

For example, consider the following data set: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.

The median of this data set can be calculated as follows:

1. Arrange the data set in ascending order: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.
2. Since the data set contains an odd number of values, the median is the value in the center of the sorted data set, which is 7.

Therefore, the median of this data set is 7.

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