When should I use the median instead of the mean?
Whenever the data is skewed or has outliers — incomes, house prices, response times. The median describes the typical case; the mean describes the total shared evenly.
Calculate the mean, median, mode, range, and standard deviation of any number set. Enter your values separated by commas.
Mean = sum ÷ count. Median = middle value when sorted. Mode = most frequent value. Weighted mean = Σ(value × weight) ÷ Σweights.
For 4, 8, 8, 20 the mean is 10, the median is 8 and the mode is 8. One large value pulls the mean above every other data point.
Whenever the data is skewed or has outliers — incomes, house prices, response times. The median describes the typical case; the mean describes the total shared evenly.
An average where some values count more, like grades weighted by credit hours. Multiply each value by its weight, sum, then divide by the total weight.
It measures spread. Two datasets can share a mean of 50 while one ranges 48–52 and the other 0–100 — the standard deviation is what distinguishes them.