Measuring Center: The Median
Because the mean cannot resist the influence of extreme observations, it is not a
resistant measure of center. Another common measure of center is the median.
Middle Point
Odd # of Observations: (N+1)/2 [Use only one value]
Example: (9+1)/2 = 5 > the median is the value of the 5
th
observation
Even # of Observations: (N+1)/2 [Use two consecutive values]
Example: (10+1)/2 = 5.5 > find the midpoint (or average) of the 5
th
and 6
th
observations
The median is a summary statistic that indicates the midpoint of a
distribution.
The following general rule can be helpful:
If the data set contains an odd number of observations, like 9, add one to
this number and get 10. Then, divide 10 by 2, and obtain five, which
means that the fifth observation is the median. In this case, only this
value is used and an average does not need to be computed.
If the data set contains an even number of observations, like 10, add 1 to
this number and get 11. Then, divide 11 by 2, and obtain 5.5. This means
that the fifth and sixth observations should be used to compute the
median.
Statistical software computes the median, so it is not necessary to do it by
hand, but it is important to understand how it is obtained to be able to
understand what it means and how to interpret its values.
The median M is the midpoint of a distribution, the number such that half of the
observations are smaller and the other half are larger.
To find the median of a distribution:
1. Arrange all observations from smallest to largest.
2. If the number of observations n is odd, the median M
is the center observation
in the ordered list.
3. If the number of observations n is even, the median M is the average of the
two center observations in the ordered list.