Which measure represents the middle value in a sorted dataset?

The measure that represents the middle value in a sorted dataset is the median. To determine the median, one must first arrange the dataset in ascending order and then identify the central value. If the dataset contains an odd number of observations, the median is the value at the center. For datasets with an even number of observations, the median is calculated by finding the average of the two central values.

This characteristic of the median makes it particularly useful in providing a measure of central tendency that is not skewed by outliers, unlike the mean, which can be heavily influenced by extreme values. In contrast, the mode represents the most frequently occurring value in the dataset and does not necessarily provide information about the middle. The range, on the other hand, measures the difference between the highest and lowest values in the dataset and also does not indicate a central value. Therefore, the median serves as the most appropriate measure of the middle value when dealing with sorted datasets.