In the English department of a midwestern university the ann

In the English department of a midwestern university, the annual salaries of five faculty members are $34,000, $35,000, $36,000, $36, 500 and $65,000. Compute the median. $41, 300 $50, 750 $36,000 $34,000

Solution

In the English department of a Midwestern university, the annual salaries of five faculty members are $34,000, $35,000, $36,000, $36,500 and $65,000

Arranging the data in ascending order: $34,000 < $35,000 < $36,000 < $36,500 < $65,000

Median of a data set is a value that divides the data set into two equal halves, i.e. 50% of the data is less than or equal to the median and 50% of the data is greater than or equal to the median.

For a data set having (2n + 1) number of elements when arranged in ascending order, the median is the (n + 1)^th term of the data set.

n N

In this case, n = 2 as there are 2x2 + 1 = 5 elements in the data set.

Therefore, the median is the (2 + 1)^th term = 3^rd term = $36,000

The correct option is (C) $36,000 (Answer)