Legal Definitions - median

The median refers to the middle value in a set of numbers when those numbers are arranged in order from smallest to largest. It represents the point where exactly half of the values are higher and half are lower. Unlike the average (mean), the median is not influenced by extremely high or low values, making it a useful measure for understanding the typical value in a dataset.

• Example 1: Home Sale Prices
  Imagine a real estate agent wants to describe the typical cost of homes sold in a particular neighborhood last month. If five homes sold for $300,000, $320,000, $350,000, $400,000, and $1,200,000, the median sale price would be $350,000.

  Explanation: When these prices are sorted from lowest to highest, $350,000 is the exact middle value. Two homes sold for less than this amount, and two homes sold for more. This provides a more representative "typical" price than the average, which would be significantly higher due to the single $1,200,000 home.

• Example 2: Employee Salaries in a Company
  A company is reporting on the compensation of its employees. To give a fair picture of what most employees earn, rather than just the average (which could be inflated by a few highly paid executives), they might state the median salary. If 100 employees' annual salaries are listed from lowest to highest, the median salary would be the average of the 50th and 51st salaries in that sorted list.

  Explanation: This figure ensures that approximately half of the employees earn less than this amount and half earn more, providing a clear understanding of the central earning point across the workforce without being skewed by the salaries of top executives or entry-level positions.

• Example 3: Customer Wait Times
  A restaurant manager wants to assess how long customers typically wait for a table during peak hours. Over an evening, they record the wait times for 15 different parties: 5 min, 7 min, 8 min, 8 min, 10 min, 12 min, 15 min, 16 min, 18 min, 20 min, 22 min, 25 min, 30 min, 35 min, 40 min. The median wait time would be 16 minutes.

  Explanation: With 15 data points, the 8th value in the sorted list (16 minutes) is the median. This means 7 parties waited less than 16 minutes, and 7 parties waited more, giving the manager a clear picture of the typical customer experience regarding wait times.