Mean and Median of a Data Set

The median of data set is found as follows. The numbers of the data set are arranged in an increasing (or decreasing) order. We look for the middle number in the data set and it is the median of the data set. If the number data are odd, there will be one middle number which will be the median. If the number of data are even, there will be two middle numbers and the average of these numbers gives the median of the data set.

Find the mean and median of the following data set.

70, 68, 56, 62, 56, 66, 56

Solution

Step 1:

Mean of the data = $\frac{(70 + 68 + 56 + 62 + 56 + 66 + 56)}{7}$ = 62

Step 2:

Data set in increasing order − 56, 56, 56, 62, 66, 68, 70.

Middle score is 62

Median of data set = 62

Find the mean and median of the given data set.

94, 79, 81, 79, 87

Solution

Step 1:

Mean of the data = $\frac{(94 + 79 + 81 + 79 + 87)}{5}$ = 84

Step 2:

Data set in increasing order − 79, 79, 81, 87, 94

Middle score is 81

Median of data set = 81