Mode

The mode is the value which appears most often.

7 babies weigh the following amounts:

2.5 kg, 3.1 kg, 3.4 kg, 3.5 kg, 3.5 kg, 4 kg, 4.1 kg

There is only one value that occurs twice, which is 3.5 kg. All other items occur only once.

2.5 kg, 3.1 kg, 3.4 kg, 3.5 kg, 3.5 kg, 4 kg, 4.1 kg

The mode is 3.5 kg. This may also be stated as the ‘modal weight’ is 3.5 kg.

Average	Advantage	Disadvantage
Mean	The mean takes account of all the items of data.	Very small or very large values can affect the mean.
Median	The median is not affected by very large or very small values.	The median can be time-consuming to find when there is a lot of data.
Mode	It is certain to have a value equal to at least one of the items of data.	There can be more than one mode, and there can also be no mode which means the mode is not always representative of the data.

Average	Mean
Advantage	The mean takes account of all the items of data.
Disadvantage	Very small or very large values can affect the mean.

Average	Median
Advantage	The median is not affected by very large or very small values.
Disadvantage	The median can be time-consuming to find when there is a lot of data.

Average	Mode
Advantage	It is certain to have a value equal to at least one of the items of data.
Disadvantage	There can be more than one mode, and there can also be no mode which means the mode is not always representative of the data.

Analysing data - OCRMode