statistics · Year 7 · Suggested learning sequence
Mode and range
The mode is the value that appears most often — the number that repeats, not how many times it repeats, and not the largest number. The range measures how spread out the data is: subtract the smallest value from the largest. Range is a distance, so it is one number that describes the gap, never the biggest value on its own and never the two ends added together. Tally the values to find the mode; find the highest and lowest to find the range.
Sample questions
Find the mode of 9, 3, 12, 5, 5, 5, 5.
- Tally how often each value appears in 9, 3, 12, 5, 5, 5, 5.
- The value 5 appears 4 times, more than any other, so the mode is 5.
Answer: 5
Find the mode of 11, 12, 9, 9, 9, 9, 6.
- Tally how often each value appears in 11, 12, 9, 9, 9, 9, 6.
- The value 9 appears 4 times, more than any other, so the mode is 9.
Answer: 9
Find the mode of 9, 12, 4, 7, 7, 7, 7.
- Tally how often each value appears in 9, 12, 4, 7, 7, 7, 7.
- The value 7 appears 4 times, more than any other, so the mode is 7.
Answer: 7