Which measure describes the central position in a data array?

The measure that describes the central position in a data array is the median. The median is the value that separates the higher half from the lower half of a data set. When data is arranged in ascending order, the median is the middle value if there is an odd number of observations. If there is an even number of observations, the median is the average of the two middle values.

This characteristic makes the median particularly useful as a measure of central tendency, especially when the data contains outliers or is skewed, as it is less affected by extreme values compared to the mean. In contrast, the mean represents the arithmetic average of the data, which can be influenced by outliers. The mode, while indicating the most frequently occurring value, does not necessarily reflect the central position unless the data is unimodal and symmetrically distributed. Quartiles provide information about the data distribution but do not serve as a single representative measure for the central value. The median, therefore, is a robust choice for denoting central tendency in a variety of data sets.