Statistics
Confusing the Mode with How Often It Occurs
Students report the number of times a value appears instead of reporting the value that appears most often.
Quick check
Why students make it
The word mode is connected to most, so students focus on the largest count. They mix up the data value with its frequency.
The rule done right
The mode is the data value that occurs most often, not the number of times it occurs. If appears times, the mode is and the frequency is .
Related resources
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Statistics, Modes (Unimodal, Bimodal, Multimodal) Infographic -
Statistics, Relative Frequency Infographic -
Statistics, Frequency Distributions and Grouped Data Infographic -
Frequency Tables Infographic -
Statistics, Measures of Center vs Spread Infographic - How to tell mode and median apart Memory Aid Cheat Sheet
- Mean, Median, Mode & Range Cheat Sheet
- Descriptive Statistics Cheat Sheet
- Frequency Tables & Histograms Cheat Sheet
- Categorical vs Quantitative Data Cheat Sheet
- Statistics, How to Tell Mode and Median Apart Practice Worksheet
- Statistics, Descriptive Statistics Worksheet
- Statistics, Measures of Center and Spread Worksheet
- Statistics, Frequency Tables and Histograms Worksheet
- Statistics, Descriptive Statistics (High School) Worksheet
- Mean, Median & Mode Explorer Tool
- Descriptive Statistics Calculator Tool
- Line Plot & Fraction Data Explorer Tool
- Mean, Median & Mode Lab Lab
- Line Plot & Fraction Data Lab Lab
- Exploratory Data & Distribution Lab Lab