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The Mode

The mode of a set of numbers is the number which occurs most often.

In a set of data, there can be more than one mode. A set with two modes is bi-modal, a set with three modes is tri-modal, etc. There can also be a data set with no mode.

Example 1:

Find the mode of the set { 4 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 11 , 11 , 12 , 14 }

In the data set, the numbers 4 , 5 , 9 , 12 and 14 each occur once.

The number 7 occurs twice and 11 occurs three times.

So, the mode of the data set is 11 .

Example 2:

Find the mode of the set { 14 , 19 , 22 , 22 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 33 , 44 , 55 , 55 }

In the data set, the numbers 14 , 19 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 33 and 44 each occur once.

The numbers 22 and 55 occurs twice.

In this case, the data set has two modes, so it is bi-modal.

The modes are 22 and 55 .

The mode can be used as a measure of central tendency of a data set.

See also mean and median .