psychology/maths coursework question

aussielle

Can anyone help my son please...

'doing a study into how important people see physical attractiveness today.... got all the data done all the intro blah blah.... but while analysing the data.. found that the data '5,6,6,6,7,8,8,8,10,10,10' actually has three modes...
what the hell do i do with that? i need a mode to analyse, do i use all three or the middle one or say its inconclusive?

any help appreciated!'

so yer... help the young one! :T

alwaysonthego_2

does it need to be a mode what about using the mean or median values?

mean = 8

median = 8

The mode of a distribution with a discrete random variable is the value of the term that occurs the most often. It is not uncommon for a distribution with a discrete random variable to have more than one mode, especially if there are not many terms. This happens when two or more terms occur with equal frequency, and more often than any of the others. A distribution with two modes is called bimodal. A distribution with three modes is called trimodal. The mode of a distribution with a continuous random variable is the maximum value of the function. As with discrete distributions, there may be more than one mode.
http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid80_gci1060882,00.html

randomtask_2

Agree with above poster.

Are you obliged to use the mode to analyse the data? I'd use the median or mean. With just 11 ratings as your base, you've not got enough to confidently say with any robustness that there are 3 clusters of responses to the question, though you could argue that your data indicates this.

dmg24

Both excellent answers (better than mine was going to be - gutted!), and there will be more marks to gain in discussing the above than in reaching the answer (if indeed, there is one!).

Good luck x

aussielle

i think i'm going to go along with a couple of other numbers (mean, median and range) but keep the mode in mind and refer to how inconclusive such a small sample will always be!

thanks to everyone its appreciated..
i might actually have to thank the mother for the suggestion... daaaamn
better get going with it so i can get on the beer tonight

aussielle

and yes sorry i forgot to say, i am obliged to use the mode, much thanks to my !!!!! of a psychology teacher lol... im sure that it isnt on the mark scheme but she has her funny little knacks she needs doin if you want good marks !

aqueoushumour01

perfect opportunity to show that you understand the limitations of this data. You could write up the fact that initially you took 11 readings but found that you had 3 modes so decided to increase the sample size in order to get more conclusive answers