Mode
Author: Ernad Mujakic
Date: 2025-07-08
The mode is a Measure of Central Tendency which represents the most frequently occurring value in a dataset or population. The mode is particularly versatile since it can be applied to both Categorical Data and Numerical Data.
Types of Modes
- Unimodal: A dataset with only one mode.
- Bimodal: A dataset with exactly two modes.
- Multimodal: A dataset with three or more modes.
Mode in Probability Distributions
In a discrete probability distribution, the mode is the value that has the highest probability of occurring.
In a continuous probability distribution, the mode is the value at which the Probability Density Function reaches it's maximum. It represents the peak of the distribution.
Other common Measures of Central Tendency include the Median, which represents the middle value when the data is ordered, the Mean, which represents the average value of a population, and the Midrange, calculated as the average of the maximum and minimum values.
References
- J. Han, M. Kamber, and J. Pei, Data Mining : Concepts and Techniques. Burlington, Ma: Elsevier, 2012.
- GeeksforGeeks, “Mode in Statistics | Definition, Formula, How to Calculate Mode,” GeeksforGeeks, Sep. 20, 2021. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/maths/what-is-mode/
- Wikipedia Contributors, “Mode (statistics),” Wikipedia, Oct. 10, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_(statistics)