In the context of data distribution, what is the median?

The median represents the number that lies in the middle of a sorted list of values. To find the median, one must first arrange the numbers in ascending order. If there is an odd number of observations, the median is the middle value. If there is an even number of observations, the median is calculated as the average of the two middle numbers. This measure is particularly useful in data analysis because it provides a central tendency that is less affected by outliers and skewed data compared to other measures, like the average. Understanding the median is crucial for interpreting data distributions effectively.