Find the Mode

The mode is the average that is probably the easiest to find but, surprisingly, also the one that people get wrong the most!

This is because in certain situations it doesn't exist.

 

What is the mode?

The mode is the value that has the highest frequency.

In reality, for a small data set, all we have to do is to find the number that is in the list most often.

 

How do we find the mode?

Simple, just count up the times something appears in the list. If it's there more than anything else, it's the mode!

 

Example 1:

Find the mode for  2, 1, 4, 2, 5, 5, 6, 8, 5, 5, 7

There is one number that appears more than anything else.

The mode is 5.

 

Example 2:

Find the mode for 4, 5, 8, 7, 9, 1, 6, 2, 3

In this list, there isn't a single number that appears more than anything else.

This means that this data has no mode.

 

Example 3:

Find the modes for 4, 5, 9, 9, 7, 6, 4, 4, 2, 9, 5

In this data, there are three 4s and three 9s.

Technically, this means the data doesn't have a mode, as one value doesn't appear more than anything else.

What is normally said is that the mode is both 4 and 9. This is called bimodal data.

 

Let's try some questions now.