What is the median of the data 6, \(-2\), 9, \(-7\), 3, 0, \(-4\), 11?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → 1.5
Arrange the values in order. With 8 values (an even number), the median is the average of the 4th and 5th values.
In ascending order: \(-7\), \(-4\), \(-2\), 0, 3, 6, 9, 11
The two middle values are 0 and 3
Median \(\displaystyle =\frac{0+3}{2}=1.5\)
The median is 1.5.
Why the other options are incorrect
Option (1) 2 — Incorrect. This is the mean, \(16\div8=2\), not the median.
Option (3) 0 — Incorrect. This is only the 4th value; with an even number of values the median is the average of the two middle values.
Option (4) 3 — Incorrect. This is only the 5th value; with an even number of values the median is the average of the two middle values.