FORMULABANK

Median, Mode, or Mean

No single descriptor is "better" than the others; it depends on the dataset and what you wish to analyze. For example, one advantage of the median over the mean is that the median is less affected by extreme observations (outliers). If there is a significant difference between the median and the mean, it may indicate errors in the observations (e.g., measurement errors, typing errors, or decimal placement errors), or it could simply indicate a large spread in the data.

Maximum Value

The maximum observation in the dataset.

• Note: This is not the highest frequency of an observation!

Minimum Value

The minimum observation in the dataset.

• Note: This is not the lowest frequency of an observation!

Range

The range is the difference between the maximum and minimum observations in the dataset.

• The range is calculated by subtracting the minimum value from the maximum value.

Quartiles

The 1st quartile, 2nd quartile, and 3rd quartile represent the observations that occur after 25%, 50%, and 75% of the data when arranged in ascending order.

Note:

• The 1st quartile is also called the 0.25 quartile or lower quartile.
• The 2nd quartile is also known as the median or 0.50 quartile.
• The 3rd quartile is also called the upper quartile or 0.75 quartile.