Median

What is the median?

When all of the figures are placed in rank order (lowest to highest), the median is the middle value. If there are an even number of figures the middle two are selected and the average is calculated. The median is a good measure of the average value when the data includes exceptionally high or low values because these will have little influence on the outcome.

Calculating the median

The data below shows average temperatures for Manchester, England.

Exam question: Calculate the median monthly temperature in Manchester.

To calculate the median temperature for the year we need to place the temperatures in rank order and identify the middle value. As there is an even number of values, we will need to select the middle two and calculate the average.