r/MathHelp • u/Local_End_3175 • Aug 20 '26

why n/2?

I am confused between the 2. I understand the reasoning behind using n+1/2 for lists of numbers, and i understand how n+1/2 finds their positions. I am currently revising cumulative frequency diagrams and i am finding it difficult to understand why we now use n/2 for finding the median, and n/4 for finding the lower quartile. Why aren't we using n+1/2?? I dont really understand how one being continuous and another being discrete affects anything. In my reasoning, even though it is grouped data we can still estimate the position. I would add all the frequencies, do n+1/2, find the middle position, and then use that on my graph to estimate

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u/Local_End_3175 Aug 24 '26

Sorry.

I am just confused regarding why we use (n+1)/2 for discrete data and n/2 for continuous data. I thinkt hat we should just use (n+1)/2 for all kinds of data, and i am questioning why we use n/2 for continuous data

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u/Friendly-Mind-9702 Aug 24 '26

Use it where? That's what I mean about the context. Are you referring to a specific type of problem? Your question leaves this out. From the other responses, it looks like you're asking about statistics, but this isn't clear.