Excel provides two functions, MODE.MULT and MODE.SNGL, to calculate the mode of a set of data. The mode is the value that appears most frequently in a data set. While MODE.SNGL returns the single most frequent value, MODE.MULT can return multiple values if there are multiple modes in the dataset. These functions are useful in statistical analysis, especially when identifying the most common values in a data set.
Syntax
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
| MODE.SNGL(number1, [number2], ...) | Returns the most frequently occurring value in a data set. |
| MODE.MULT(number1, [number2], ...) | Returns an array of the most frequently occurring values in a data set. |
Example
Consider a scenario where you have a dataset of scores from a series of exams taken by a group of students. You want to calculate the mode(s) of the scores to identify the most common score(s).
| Student | Score |
|---|---|
| Student 1 | 85 |
| Student 2 | 90 |
| Student 3 | 78 |
| Student 4 | 85 |
| Student 5 | 92 |
| Student 6 | 90 |
| Student 7 | 78 |
| Student 8 | 85 |
In this example, you can use MODE.SNGL to find the most frequent score and MODE.MULT to find all the scores that appear most frequently.
Practice Exercise 1
Task: The following table shows the number of products sold by different salespersons over a week. Use Excel to calculate the mode(s) of the sales numbers using both MODE.SNGL and MODE.MULT.
Practice Exercise 2
Task: The table below lists the number of visitors to a website over 12 different days. Calculate the mode(s) of the visitor numbers to identify the most common daily visitor counts.
Solutions
To solve both exercises, you will use the MODE.SNGL and MODE.MULT functions in Excel. Here’s how you can calculate the mode for each dataset:
Solution for Exercise 1:
For Salesperson A in Exercise 1:
- MODE.SNGL formula:
=MODE.SNGL(B2:F2) - MODE.MULT formula:
=MODE.MULT(B2:F2)
Repeat these formulas for each salesperson (B2 for Salesperson A, B3 for Salesperson B, etc.).
Solution for Exercise 2:
For the Number of Visitors in Exercise 2:
- MODE.SNGL formula:
=MODE.SNGL(B2:B13) - MODE.MULT formula:
=MODE.MULT(B2:B13)
Apply these formulas directly in Excel to obtain the mode values for each of the datasets provided in the exercises.