What does the mode represent in a dataset?

The mode represents the most frequently occurring value in a dataset. It is a measure of central tendency that highlights which data point appears most often, providing insight into the commonality within the dataset. For example, if you have a dataset consisting of values like 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, the mode would be 4, as it appears more frequently than the other numbers.

This measure is particularly useful in situations where understanding the commonality or trend is essential, especially for categorical data where numerical measures may not apply. Unlike the average (mean), which can be skewed by extreme values, or the median, which represents the middle value when data is sorted, the mode focuses solely on frequency, making it a unique and valuable measure in descriptive statistics.