- 1). Define your set of numbers. Whether you need to find the median single-family home value in a city or town, or the median number of nails in several boxes, the numbers must all represent exactly the same element so that you don't end up comparing dissimilar values.
- 2). Sort the numbers from smallest to largest or vice-versa. The easiest way to do this is by using a spreadsheet program. Import or enter your set of numbers into the program, and arrange them in either ascending or descending order. It doesn't matter which.
- 3). Find the median. If you have an odd number of values in the set, this means simply choosing the middle value. For example, if you have 15 numbers arranged from smallest to largest, the median is the eighth number. If an even number of values are in the set, take the average of the middle two numbers. For instance, if 16 values are included, the median is the average of the eighth and ninth values. To get the average, add the two middle numbers together and divide by two.
next post