Okuzeka
Data Science & Analytics vocabulary · Statistics for Analysis

Median

Meaning in data science & analytics, with examples

/ˈmiːdiən/nounCore term

In data science & analytics, median means: The middle value when all the numbers in a group are sorted from smallest to largest; half the values are below it and half are above it.

In Turkish: medyan, ortanca

How it is used

Preferred over the mean for skewed data such as income, house prices or response times, because outliers barely affect it. You report, compare or calculate the median; 'median salary' and 'median time to …' are common phrases.

Example sentences

  1. We report median delivery time because a few very late orders distort the average.

  2. The median customer places three orders a year.

Common collocations

  • median value
  • median income
  • report the median
  • median time
  • meanThe value you get by adding all the numbers in a group and dividing the total by how many numbers there are; the usual meaning of 'average'.
  • percentileThe value below which a given percentage of observations fall; for example, the 90th percentile of load time is the time within which 90% of page loads finish.
  • skewedDescribes a distribution that is not symmetrical and has a long tail of values on one side, such as income data where a few people earn far more than most.
  • outlierA value that is very far from most of the other values in a dataset, for example one order of 50,000 dollars among orders of around 40 dollars.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Statistics for Analysis

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: