How is the median determined in a dataset?

The median is a measure of central tendency that identifies the middle value of a dataset when the values are arranged in ascending order. To determine the median, one first organizes the data from the smallest to the largest value. If there is an odd number of observations, the median is simply the middle number in this ordered list. If there is an even number of observations, the median is calculated by taking the average of the two middle numbers. This method ensures that the median accurately represents the center of the dataset, making it a robust measure that is particularly useful when datasets have outliers or are skewed.

Other choices describe different statistics. The highest value represents the maximum, while the lowest value refers to the minimum of the dataset. Averaging all data points gives the mean, not the median. Each of these measures provides different insights about the data, but only the method described in the correct choice effectively defines how the median specifically is determined.