How is the mode defined in a statistical context?

The mode is defined as the value that appears most frequently in a data set. It represents the number that occurs with the highest frequency, making it particularly useful in understanding the most common item within a set of data. This characteristic distinguishes the mode from other measures of central tendency, such as the mean, which calculates the average of all values, and the median, which identifies the middle value when values are arranged in order.

In contexts where data may contain repeated values, the mode helps to indicate the most typical or frequently occurring observation, making it valuable in various applications, such as determining popular choices or identifying trends within a dataset.