The Excel MODE.SNGL Function

Related Functions:
AVERAGE
MEDIAN
MODE.MULT

Function Description

The Excel Mode.Sngl function returns the statistical mode (the most frequently occurring value) within a list of supplied numbers. If there are 2 or more most frequently occurring values in the supplied data, the function returns the lowest of these values.

The Mode.Sngl function is new in Excel 2010 and so is not available in earlier versions of Excel. However, the function is simply a renamed version of the Mode function that is available in earlier versions of Excel.

The syntax of the Mode.Sngl function is:

MODE.SNGL( number1, [number2], ... )

where the number arguments are up to 255 numeric values (or arrays of numeric values), for which you want to calculate the statistical mode.


Mode.Sngl Function Examples

Example 1

In the example spreadsheet below, the Excel Mode.Sngl function is used to calculate the statistical mode of the set of values in cells A1-A6.

 Formulas:
  A B
1 1 =MODE.SNGL( A1:A6 )
2 1  
3 2  
4 2  
5 2  
6 3  
 Results:
  A B
1 1 2
2 1  
3 2  
4 2  
5 2  
6 3  

Example 2

In the following spreadsheet, the Mode.Sngl function is used to calculate the statistical mode of the values in cells A1-A10.

Note that in this case, the data has two statistical modes.

 Formulas:
  A B
1 1 =MODE.SNGL( A1:A10 )
2 1  
3 2  
4 2  
5 3  
6 3  
7 3  
8 4  
9 4  
10 4  
 Results:
  A B
1 1 3 - Returns the lowest of the two Modes, 3 and 4
2 1  
3 2  
4 2  
5 3  
6 3  
7 3  
8 4  
9 4  
10 4  

In the above case, where the supplied data has two statistical modes (3 and 4), the Mode.Sngl function returns the lowest of these two values.

For further details and examples of the Excel Mode.Sngl function, see the Microsoft Office website.


Mode.Sngl Function Errors

If you get an error from the Excel Mode.Sngl function this is likely to be one of the following:

Common Errors
#NUM! - Occurs if there are no duplicates (and there is therefore no mode) within the supplied values.
#VALUE! -

Occurs if a value that is supplied directly to the function (i.e. that is not part of an array) is non-numeric.

(Note that non-numeric functions that are part of an array of values are ignored by the Mode.Sngl function).