The mode is the simplest of the three measures of central tendency covered in this chapter. It requires no mathematical computations and can be employed with any level of measurement. It is the only measure of central tendency available for use with nominal data. The mode is simply the most frequently occurring category or value. contains data from the 2011 PPCS. Interviewers asked PPCS respondents whether they had been stopped by police while driving a vehicle. The people who answered yes were then asked to report the reason for that stop. This is a nominal-level variable. presents the distribution of responses that participants gave for their stop. The mode is speeding because that is the stop reason that occurs most frequently (i.e., 2,040 people said that this is the violation for which they were pulled over by police).
Mode: The most frequently occurring category or value in a set of scores.