What is median split? Is it same as median?

Question

In one of the research paper I follow they have said "Classes have been derived from scores with a median split"

Can anyone please explain if this median split is same as median? Thank you :)

Answer 1

A median split is when a set of elements is dichotomised (i.e. split into two) according to the statistical median (50th percentile). One group will contain all elements greater than the median and the other group will contain all elements less than the median.

So if you have a series of numbers (e.g. from 1 to 6) and you do a median split (with the median being 3.5 on this occasion) you will essentially split the series of numbers into two groups:

Group a would be 1, 2, 3

and

Group b would be 4, 5, 6

You can see another example here:

For example, we administer a scale of Optimism, and then use a median-split to label the people above the median as Optimists, and those below the median as Pessimists.

Essentially, the median split is not the median itself but it is a technique that uses the median to perform a split on a set of elements.