What does the median represent in a data set?

The median represents the middle score in a data set, which is a key measure of central tendency. It is defined as the value that separates the higher half from the lower half of the data. To determine the median, the data must first be arranged in ascending order. If there is an odd number of values, the median is the middle value. If there is an even number of values, the median is calculated as the average of the two middle values.

This characteristic makes the median particularly valuable in statistics, especially for skewed distributions or when outliers are present, as it is not influenced by extreme values. Understanding the median helps in analyzing the data's central tendency beyond just the average, which can be skewed by outliers. The other choices describe different statistical concepts: the mode relates to frequency, the mean to overall averaging, and the peak of a frequency graph to the highest occurrence, none of which capture the essence of the median.