Question

The first quartile can best be described as ______________________.

A. the median of the lower half of a data set ordered from least to greatest

B. the median of the upper half of a data set ordered from least to greatest

C. the median of a data set ordered from least to greatest

D. the number that appears most often in a data set

Answer 1

A. the median of the lower half of a data set ordered from least to greatest

Explanation:

The first quartile can best described as the median of the lower half of a data set ordered from least to greatest.

Let us explain this with an example, say you're given a set of numbers: {1, 2, 5, 8, 9, 12, 15, 16, 20, 23, 25, 28, 32, 36, 42}. The median for the set is 16, the first quartile is going to be the median of the first half which is 8.