The Mode – Definition, Features, Merits & Demerits of Modal

The Mode | Modal (Measure of Central Tendency)

Mode is the score that occurs most frequently in a set of scores.

For example, the mode of 3, 4, 5, 6, 3, 7, 4 8, 3, 9 and 10 is 3 because it is the figure that occurs most frequently in the set. A set of values can have two modes or bi-modals, e.g. 3, 9, 12, 6, 11, 24, 13, 11, 6.

The modes are 6 and 11 (both numbers appear twice).

Advantages of Mode

• Extreme values do not affect the mode.
• It is easy to understand, i.e. it is easily identified on graphs.
• It can be computed when complete data is not given.
• It is easy to compute when we have a large array of numbers.
• It is an actual value and often represents the majority.

Disadvantages of Mode

• It is unsuitable for algebraic work.
• It is difficult and sometimes impossible to determine with accuracy from grouped data.
• Its exact location is often uncertain.
• It does not take into consideration the value of every item.
• There can be more than one mode in a set of figures, therefore it is not necessarily unique.