Which statistical measure identifies the most frequently occurring score in a set?

The mode is the statistical measure that identifies the most frequently occurring score in a set of data. When analyzing a dataset, the mode highlights which value appears most often, making it particularly useful for understanding the distribution of scores, especially when dealing with categorical data or when the distribution is not symmetrical. For example, in a set of test scores, if the score of 85 occurs more often than any other score, then 85 is considered the mode of that dataset.

In contrast, the median refers to the middle score when all scores are arranged in order, providing a measure that is less affected by extreme values. The mean is the average score calculated by adding all scores together and dividing by the number of scores, which can also be influenced by outliers. The range, on the other hand, measures the difference between the highest and lowest scores, giving a sense of the overall spread of the data but not indicating which score is most common.