Median absolute deviation

Median Absolute Deviation (MAD) is a way to measure the spread of data. It tells us how different each number in a set of data is from the median of that data set. To find the MAD, first find the median of the data. Then, find the absolute difference between each value and that median. An absolute difference is a positive number, and it just means how much bigger or smaller that value is compared to the median. Finally, take the median of all those absolute differences - that median is the Median Absolute Deviation. For example:

If there are 5 numbers: 3,2,4,6,4

Step 1: Find the median: 4

Step 2: Find the absolute difference between each value and the median:

3: 1 (4 - 3 = 1)
2: 2 (4 - 2 = 2)
4: 0 (4 - 4 = 0)
6: 2 (6 - 4 = 2)
4: 0 (4 - 4 = 0)

Step 3: Find the median of all these absolute differences:

Median Absolute Deviation = 1 (The median of 1,2,0,2,0 is 1).

So this means that the values in the set are, on average, 1 number away from the median (4).