🧱 See It
Five test scores: 70, 85, 90, 85, 60. Ask "what's typical?" and there are three genuinely different, all-correct answers — depending on exactly what you mean by "typical."
✏️ Draw It
Sort the scores from smallest to largest first — this makes the median easy to spot, sitting right in the middle:
60
70
85
85
90
Sorted, the middle value (median) is 85 — the exact centre of the line-up.
🔢 Write It
| Measure | How to find it |
|---|---|
| Mean | add everything up, divide by how many there are |
| Median | sort the list, find the middle value |
| Mode | the value that appears most often |
You MUST sort the list before finding the median — the middle of an unsorted list means nothing.
💡 Worked Examples
Example 1 — Scores: 70, 85, 90, 85, 60
- Mean:
(70+85+90+85+60) ÷ 5 = 390 ÷ 5 = 78 - Median: sorted is
60, 70, 85, 85, 90— the middle (3rd) value is85 - Mode:
85appears twice, more than any other value — mode is85
Example 2 — Median with an even count: 4, 8, 6, 10
- Sort:
4, 6, 8, 10 - Four numbers means two middle values:
6and8 - Average them:
(6+8) ÷ 2 = 7 - Answer: median = 7
🧠 Quick Reference
Mean: add, then divide by count. Median: SORT first, then find the middle (average the two middle values if the count is even). Mode: the most frequent value — there can be more than one, or none at all.