Here's how to find the median when you have an odd-numbered data set: An odd number of data points means that when you count the total number of points in your set, the number is odd. These methods include: Odd-numbered dataįinding the median of an odd number of data points is the easiest method. You can find the median of a data set in a variety of ways, depending on the number of data points and whether the values are numerical or categorical. Related: How To Find Mean, Median and Mode How to find the median Therefore, the median is sometimes the more accurate figure to use in your analysis. Outliers can create an average that does not accurately represent a group of numbers. You might choose to find a data set's median, rather than its mean or mode, to avoid outliers, or disproportionately low or high numbers, in your statistical analysis. It occurs more frequently than any other figure.

Mode , which is the most common number in a data set. To calculate the mean, you add all the numbers in a set together and divide the total by the number of values in the set. Two related statistical figures that people often confuse with the median are:

50% of the values in a set occur below the median and 50% are above the median. When you order a set of numbers from lowest to highest, the median is the number directly in the middle. The median is the middle, center or halfway point of a group of numbers. In this article, we explain what the median is, describe how to find the median and provide helpful examples and tips you can use for reference. Once you understand how to find the median from a group of numbers, you can use it to compare data and averages. Fortunately, there are several easy-to-learn methods for calculating the median value. In statistics, the median is an important figure for analyzing data sets.

What is the median