Directions
Our third tool for analyzing data is mode. The mode is the number that occurs most often in a set. The easiest way to find the mode is to:
- Order the numbers form least to greatest.
- Find the number that occurs the most often.
Here’s an example: 48, 97, 26, 48, 97, 97, 78, 34
- Order the numbers from least to greatest: 26, 34, 48, 48, 78, 97, 97, 97
- Look for the number that occurs most often.
In this set, it’s easy to see that 97 occurs three times -- more than any other number. So, 97 is the mode in this set of numbers.
Here’s another set: 3,6,8,3,6,7,1
In order from least to greatest: 1, 3, 3, 6, 6, 7, 8
Both 3 and 6 occur twice, while the other numbers occur only once. So this set has two modes: 3 and 6.