What is the middle value of an ordered data set called?

What is the middle value of an ordered data set called?

• A. Mean
• B. Median
• C. Mode
• D. Range

Answer: (B)

The middle value of an ordered data set is called the median. When you sort the data from smallest to largest, the median sits right at the center and splits the data into two halves with equal counts. If there is an odd number of values, the median is the single central value. If there is an even number of values, the median is the average of the two central values. This distinguishes it from the mean (the overall average), the mode (the most frequent value), and the range (the difference between the largest and smallest values). For example, with 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 the median is 5; with 1, 3, 5, 7 the median is (3 + 5) / 2 = 4.

The middle value of an ordered data set is called the median. When you sort the data from smallest to largest, the median sits right at the center and splits the data into two halves with equal counts. If there is an odd number of values, the median is the single central value. If there is an even number of values, the median is the average of the two central values. This distinguishes it from the mean (the overall average), the mode (the most frequent value), and the range (the difference between the largest and smallest values). For example, with 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 the median is 5; with 1, 3, 5, 7 the median is (3 + 5) / 2 = 4.