What is percentile?

 

Percentiles Explained with Examples.

What is percentile?

A percentile is a measure used in statistics to describe the position of a particular data point in a dataset relative to the rest of the data. Specifically, it indicates the percentage of values in a dataset that are equal to or less than the given value.

For example, if a student scores in the 80th percentile on a standardized test, it means that their score is better than or equal to 80% of the other test-takers. In other words, only 20% of the test-takers scored higher than the student.

To calculate a percentile, you first need to order the data from lowest to highest. Then, you can determine the rank of the data point in question by counting how many data points are below it in the ordered list. Finally, you can convert this rank to a percentile by dividing it by the total number of data points and multiplying by 100.

For example, suppose a dataset consists of the following 10 values:

2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15

If we want to find the percentile of the value 9, we first order the data:

2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15

Then, we count how many values are below 9: 6. We divide this by the total number of data points (10) and multiply by 100 to get the 60th percentile. Therefore, 9 is at the 60th percentile in this dataset, meaning that 60% of the values are less than or equal to 9.