What characteristic defines unimodal data?

Unimodal data is characterized by the presence of exactly one mode or peak in its distribution. This means that when you analyze the data, you identify a single value (or a range of values) where the data points are concentrated most heavily. This singular peak indicates the most frequently occurring value in the dataset.

This characteristic is important because it helps in understanding the overall shape and tendency of the data. In contrast, datasets with no modes would have no values that repeat, while those with multiple peaks would be classified as multimodal, indicating the presence of several frequently occurring values. Similarly, having two distinct modes would classify the dataset as bimodal, further differentiating it from unimodal data. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for analyzing and interpreting data correctly.