Which of the following best describes the median?

The median is defined as the value that separates the higher half from the lower half of a dataset, making option B the most accurate description. When the data is arranged in ascending (or descending) order, the median is located at the middle position. If there is an odd number of observations, it is simply the middle value. If the dataset contains an even number of observations, the median is calculated as the average of the two central numbers. This characteristic makes the median a useful measure of central tendency, especially in datasets that may contain outliers or are skewed, as it is not affected by extremes like the mean.

The other options describe different statistical concepts. For instance, the most frequently occurring value refers to the mode, which identifies the most common data point in a set, while the arithmetic average is a term for the mean, which is calculated by summing all values and dividing by the number of values. The range refers to the difference between the highest and lowest values in the dataset, which does not convey the central tendency of the data. Thus, option B clearly and accurately encapsulates the definition of the median.