MODE

Returns the most common value in a set of numbers.

Syntax:

MODE(number1, number2, ... number30)

number1 to number30 are up to 30 numbers or ranges/arrays containing numbers.

MODE returns the number that occurs most often. If no number occurs more than once, MODE returns an error.

Example:

MODE(A1:A4)

where cells A1:A4 contain 1, 3, 2, 3 returns 3, the number occurring most often.

MODE(3, 7, 3, 9, 9, 3, 5, 1, 9, 5)

returns [3, 9].

( -MODE(-A1:A10)=MODE(A1:A10) )

returns TRUE if there is just one mode for the data in A1:A10, and FALSE otherwise. Notice the two minus signs.

Application:

Scenario: Student Test Scores

A teacher wants to find the most common test score in a recent math quiz to see what grade most students achieved. The test was graded on a scale of 0 to 100.

Here are the scores from the class:

	Student Name	Quiz Score
	A	B
1	Amy	85
2	Ben	90
3	Charlie	75
4	Dana	90
5	Evan	80
6	Faye	90
7	Gary	75
8	Hannah	85
9	Isaac	90
10	Jesse	80

To find the mode, we'll look at the "Quiz Score" column and count how many times each score appears:

75: 2 times
80: 2 times
85: 2 times
90: 4 times

The score that appears most frequently is 90.

Using the MODE function on this data set would return 90.

Conclusion: The mode of the quiz scores is 90. This tells the teacher that the most common score in the class was 90, which can be useful information for understanding overall class performance and identifying the most common level of achievement.

Count for 75:

2

Count for 80:

2

Count for 85:

2

Count for 90:

4

Result for MODE:

90