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Data Analysis

Not understanding why "A" is the median grade on the first quiz in section 2

In section 2, quiz 1, one of the questions is "A classroom had the following distribution of grades: 30 As, 10 Bs, 8 Cs, and 2 Ds. What was the median grade?"

After missing the question twice, I just guessed it was A which turned out to be right. Even after reviewing the video, I am still having trouble understanding why this is the answer and I think part of the reason is my inability to visualize what this would look like on a spreadsheet. Would the correct method have been to think there are a total of 50 letter grades in a line, and since the halfway point of 25 would exist in the section of A's, that makes it the median?

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points

I think you've answered your own question! Since there are more A's than all other grades combined, then A is both the maximum and the median (and the mode, too).

Did you see this "related link" in the Teacher's Notes section? It illustrates the exact same concept that you arrived at: Finding a Central Value