In a set of values, which term describes the middle value when arranged numerically?

The term that describes the middle value of a set of numbers when arranged in numerical order is the median. To find the median, you start by sorting the numbers from the smallest to the largest. If there is an odd number of values, the median is the number that is exactly in the middle. If there is an even number of values, the median is calculated by taking the average of the two middle numbers.

This concept is essential in statistics as it provides a measure of central tendency that is less affected by outliers compared to the mean, which is the arithmetic average of all values. The mode, while related to data sets, refers to the value that appears most frequently and does not necessarily indicate the middle of a data distribution. The range, on the other hand, refers to the difference between the highest and lowest values in the set, and thus does not provide a central point of reference. Understanding the median is crucial for summarizing data distributions in a meaningful way.