What is Mode? Definition, Meaning & Example
The value that appears most frequently in a set of data.
TL;DR: The value that appears most frequently in a set of data.
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Mode: The value that appears most frequently in a set of data.
Explanation
Mode is useful for identifying the most common value in a data set. A data set can have one mode (unimodal), two modes (bimodal), or multiple modes (multimodal). If no value repeats, there is no mode. For example, in the set 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, the mode is 3 because it appears most frequently. Mode is particularly useful for categorical data like colors or preferences. Unlike mean and median which must be numbers, mode can apply to non-numeric data as well. Mode is often used in surveys and opinion polls.
Example
In a class of 30 students, 12 prefer ice cream, 10 prefer cake, and 8 prefer candy. The mode preference is ice cream because it is chosen most frequently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can there be more than one mode?
Yes, if multiple values appear with the same highest frequency, the data set is multimodal with multiple modes.
What if all values appear equally?
If all values appear with the same frequency, technically all are modes. But often it is said there is no mode in such cases.
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