Which term describes the middle score in a set of numbers when arranged in order?

The term that describes the middle score in a set of numbers when they are arranged in order is indeed median. The median is a measure of central tendency that is particularly useful because it can provide a better representation of a dataset when there are outliers or skewed distributions. To find the median, you would organize the numbers in ascending or descending order and identify the middle number. If there is an even number of observations, the median is calculated by taking the average of the two middle numbers.

In contrast, the mean, often referred to as the average, is calculated by summing all the numbers in a dataset and dividing by the count of the numbers. This can be affected by extreme values, which could skew the representation of the data. The mode is the number that appears most frequently in a dataset, which may not provide information about the central tendency if all numbers are unique. The range indicates the difference between the highest and lowest values in a dataset and does not provide insight into the middle score. Understanding these distinctions helps clarify why the median is the correct answer in this scenario.