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The median is a measure of central tendency that is the middle value in a set of data when the data is arranged in numerical order. It is sometimes called the "50th percentile" because it is the value that separates the lower 50% of the data from the upper 50%.

To calculate the median, you first need to arrange the data in order from smallest to largest or largest to smallest. Then, if the data set has an odd number of observations, the median is the middle value. For example, if we have the following data set: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, the median is 7 because it is the middle value. There are two values (5 and 9) on either side of 7.

If the data set has an even number of observations, the median is the average of the two middle values. For example, if we have the following data set: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, the median is the average of 6 and 8, which is 7.

The median is often used as a measure of central tendency when there are outliers or extreme values in the data set, because it is less affected by extreme values than the mean. However, it may not be the best measure of central tendency to use in all situations. For example, if the data set is highly skewed, the median may not accurately represent the typical value of the data. In such cases, it may be better to use other measures of central tendency such as the mean or mode.