The goals scored by a team in 41 matches were — 0 goals in 6 matches, 1 goal in 11 matches, 2 goals in 12 matches, 3 goals in 8 matches, 4 goals in 4 matches. Find the median number of goals.

With 41 matches the median is the 21st value once the matches are lined up in order of goals scored. Cumulating the frequencies gives 6, 17, 29, 37, 41, so matches 1 to 6 were goalless, matches 7 to 17 had one goal, and matches 18 to 29 had two. The 21st match therefore falls in the two-goal group and the median is 2 goals. The value 1 stops at the cumulative total 17, which reaches only the 17th match and falls short of the 21st. The value 21 is the POSITION of the median, not the value found there — a median is always a number of goals, never a match number. The value 12 is the largest frequency in the table; that identifies 2 as the MODE, and here the mode and the median agree, but the frequency 12 is not itself either of them.