What is a percentile?

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Multiple Choice

What is a percentile?

Explanation:
Percentiles mark a threshold in a data set: the value below which a given percentage of observations fall. If you say the p-th percentile, then p% of the data are at or below that value, and the remaining (100 − p)% are at or above it. This is why the correct description is “a value below which a given percentage of observations fall.” For example, the 50th percentile is the median—half the data lie below it. The idea holds for other percentiles as well, with the threshold shifting as the percentage changes. The other statements describe different concepts: the range is the spread from lowest to highest, and the average of the highest values is a specific statistic unrelated to where a percentage of data fall.

Percentiles mark a threshold in a data set: the value below which a given percentage of observations fall. If you say the p-th percentile, then p% of the data are at or below that value, and the remaining (100 − p)% are at or above it. This is why the correct description is “a value below which a given percentage of observations fall.” For example, the 50th percentile is the median—half the data lie below it. The idea holds for other percentiles as well, with the threshold shifting as the percentage changes. The other statements describe different concepts: the range is the spread from lowest to highest, and the average of the highest values is a specific statistic unrelated to where a percentage of data fall.

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