What does the median represent in a series of numbers?

The median is defined as the middle number in a series of numbers when they are arranged in ascending or descending order. When the total number of values is odd, the median is simply the value located in the center of the dataset. If the number is even, the median is computed by taking the average of the two central numbers. This measure is particularly useful in statistics because it provides a better representation of a typical value in a dataset that may be skewed or contain outliers, as it focuses solely on the central position rather than the overall range or average of the dataset.

For example, in the sequence of numbers 1, 3, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, the median is 6, as that number is right in the middle. If the sequence were 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, the median would be the average of 3 and 4, which is 3.5. This illustrates the concept of the median capturing the center point of the data rather than being swayed by extreme values, unlike the highest or lowest number and the average, which can be more affected by outliers.