Enter Data and Find the Mode

As you just learned, the mode is the number that occurs most frequently in a list of data.

A teacher might use the mode to determine the most common test score that their class received.

In this video, you will enter your starter data into a spreadsheet.

You will then find the mode in two ways: by sorting the spreadsheet to see which number occurs most often and then by experimenting with the mode function in Google Sheets.

The starter data you will use is an example of a data set, or a collection of numbers related to a topic.

A data point is an individual piece of information.

In this example, the data set is a list of daily temperatures in April, while the data points are each individual temperature.

The mode is the most common number or temperature represented by data points that appear in a data set.

If a bowl of jelly beans consists of three black, seven red, two green and four purple beans, the mode is represented by the color red, since there are more of them than any other color.

Like the red jelly bean that occurs most often, you are going to find the temperature that occurs most often.

To begin, return to your spreadsheet and open the starter data set linked next to this video in another tab.

A spreadsheet consists of boxes called cells.

These cells are grouped into vertical series called columns and horizontal series called rows.

Columns, rows, and cells allow you to organize, sort, and visualize your data in different ways.

Begin by making headers for the columns to label your data.

Next, enter the first 15 days of the starter data set into the spreadsheet.

If the data set you are using has fewer or more numbers than the starter set, that’s ok.

Now, sort the rows by the column you want to find the mode in.

This makes it easier to count how many times each number appears.

Find the number that appears the most in the column you sorted.

This is the mode.

You can also use a function, or preset formula, to find the mode.

This is useful when there are too many numbers in the set to easily count them yourself.

Begin your function with an equal sign.

It’s possible that there can be more than one mode if one number appears the same amount of times as another.

But there may not even be a mode at all if no number is repeated.

Now, it’s your turn: Make headers for your spreadsheet, Enter your data in the spreadsheet, Find the mode by sorting the spreadsheet to see which number appears most frequently, And then experiment with finding the mode by using the mode function.