What does the median value represent in a dataset?

The median value in a dataset is defined as the midpoint that separates the higher half from the lower half of the data points. When the values in a dataset are arranged in ascending or descending order, the median represents the middle number in that ordered list. If there is an odd number of observations, the median is the middle value. In cases where the number of observations is even, the median is calculated by taking the average of the two middle values. This characteristic makes the median particularly valuable in statistics, as it is not affected by extreme values or outliers in the dataset, providing a robust indicator of the central tendency.

Other options describe different statistical measures. The highest value is the maximum of the dataset, the average refers to the mean, which is calculated by summing all values and dividing by the count, and the most frequently occurring value corresponds to the mode. Each of these measures expresses data in distinct ways, highlighting different aspects of the dataset.