Mode (statistics)

The value or category occurring most often in a data set. A data set can have one mode, several modes tied for most frequent, or no mode under some conventions.

Frequency distribution: A summary that shows how often each value or category occurs in a data set. The mode is the value with the greatest frequency in this distribution.
Tally mark: A mark used to record each occurrence while counting observations. Tallying values provides a direct route to their frequencies and the mode.
Imputation (statistics): The replacement of missing data with estimated or plausible values. The mode can fill missing categorical values, though this may overstate the most common category.
Arithmetic mean: The sum of numerical observations divided by their count. Unlike the mode, the mean uses every numerical value and can be shifted by extremes.
Categorical data: Data consisting of values that represent groups or labels rather than numerical measurements. For categories, the mode identifies the most common group without requiring numerical order.
Histogram: A graph of numerical data that groups observations into intervals and displays their frequencies. Its tallest bar identifies the modal interval, not necessarily an exact modal value.
Mode (probability theory): A value or location where a probability distribution attains its greatest probability mass or density. The sample mode estimates the most probable outcome represented by an underlying distribution.
Median: The middle value of ordered data, or the midpoint of the two central values. The median describes position in ordered data, while the mode describes greatest frequency.
Quantitative data: Data expressed as numerical counts or measurements. For numerical observations, repeated values can define the mode directly.
Kernel density estimation: A method for estimating a smooth probability density from observed data. For continuous data, a density estimate can locate a mode even when exact values rarely repeat.

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