Idea 3of 22Builds onThe mode: the value that appears most
No mode, or two modes
What if no value repeats, or two tie?
Today you'll discover
- when a data set has no mode
- when it has two
Think firstKilometres biked: 3, 5, 6, 9
What is the mode of 3, 5, 6 and 9?
Decide first, then press Next. Compare the heights of the columns.
A line plot of kilometres biked: one dot each above 3, 5, 6 and 9, and the words every value appears just once, so there is no mode. Then laps run, with the columns above 2 and 7 each two dots tall, both ringed and labelled mode. The last step shows fish caught on six trips.
See the whole ideathe big idea and the key word, in one place
The big idea
A data set can have one mode, two modes, or no mode at all.
Easy to get wrongNo mode does not mean the mode is 0. The mode is always a value from the data, and 0 may not be in it.
A tieShoe sizes 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7: sizes 5 and 7 both sold twice. The store has two modes, two favourite sizes.
Key words
- no mode
- what a data set has when no value appears more often than the others
- two modes
- what a data set has when two values tie for appearing most often
Ready to use it?
- Say whether a data set has one mode, two, or none.