What term describes the value that appears most frequently in a data set?

The term that describes the value that appears most frequently in a data set is known as the mode. The mode is important in statistics because it indicates the most common value in a distribution, which can provide insights into the data's characteristics and the behavior of the variables involved.

In contrast, the range represents the difference between the highest and lowest values in a dataset, giving a measure of variability but not indicating frequency. The mean, often referred to as the average, is calculated by summing all values and dividing by the number of observations, which provides a measure of central tendency but does not necessarily reflect the most common value. The median is the middle value when a data set is ordered, splitting it into two equal halves but again does not focus on frequency. Thus, the mode is the only term among the options provided that specifically identifies the value that appears the most often in a dataset.