Mean, median, and mode are values that are commonly used in basic statistics and in everyday math. Though you can find each value pretty easily, it's also easy to mix them up. Read on to learn how to compute each value for a set of data.
Part 1 of 3: Finding the Mean
1Add up all of the numbers in the set. Let's say you're working with the numbers 2, 3, and 4. Add them up: 2 + 3 + 4 = 9.Ad
2Count up the amount of numbers in the set. In this case, you're working with 3 numbers.
3Divide the sum of the numbers by the amount of numbers. Now take the sum of the numbers, 9, and divide it by the amount of numbers, 3. 9/3 = 3. The mean, or the average of all the numbers in the set, is 3. Remember that you won't always get a nice even number for your answer.
Part 2 of 3: Finding the Median
1Order all of the numbers in the set from least to greatest. Let's say you're working with the following numbers: 4, 2, 8, 1, 15. Just reorder them in ascending order, like so: 1, 2, 4, 8, 15.
2Find the middle number of the set. How you do this will depend on whether you have an even amount of numbers or an odd amount. Here's what you can do in either situation:
- If odd, cross out the leftmost number, then the rightmost number, and then repeat. When you have one number left, this is your median. If you're working with the numbers 4, 7, 8, 11, and 21, then 8 is your mode because it's the number in the middle.
- If even, cross out numbers on either side, but you should have two numbers exactly in the middle. Add them together and divide by two for the median value. (If the two numbers in the middle are the same, that number is your median.) If you're working with the numbers 1, 2, 5, 3, 7, and 10, then your two middle numbers are 5 and 3. Add up 5 and 3 to get 8 and divide this result by 2 to get 4 as your mode.
Part 3 of 3: Finding the Mode
1Write down all of the numbers in the set. In this case, you're working with the numbers 2, 4, 5, 5, 4, and 5. It can help to order them from least to greatest here too.
2Find the number that occurs the most. Think: "Mode is most." In this example, the number 5 occurs the most, so that is the mode. If there are two numbers that occur the most, then that set is "bimodal," and if more than two numbers occur the most, then the set is "multi-modal."Ad
We could really use your help!
- Ordering the numbers from least to greatest can help you find the median and the mode.
In other languages:
Español: Cómo determinar la media, mediana y moda, Português: Como Encontrar Média, Mediana e Moda, Italiano: Come Trovare Media, Mediana e Moda, Français: Comment calculer la moyenne, la médiane et le mode d'une série statistique, Nederlands: Het gemiddelde, de mediaan en de modus bepalen, Deutsch: Mittelwert, Zentralwert und Modalwert berechnen, Русский: найти среднее значение, моду и медиану, Bahasa Indonesia: Mencari Nilai Mean, Median, dan Modus
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 19,801 times.