Quote from harrytrader:
Patent on what ? On mode or median ? Impossible this is just classical statistical tools as old as 100 years at least. Instead of using the usual name "mode" they use the expression "modal point".
For people not accustomed to stats or for refreshing memory of others this is basic intro
http://www.psychstat.smsu.edu/introbook/sbk13.htm
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
Central tendency is a typical or representative score. If the mayor is asked to provide a single value which best describes the income level of the city, he or she would answer with a measure of central tendency. The three measures of central tendency that will be discussed this semester are the mode, median, and mean.
The Mode
The mode, symbolized by Mo, is the most frequently occurring score value. If the scores for a given sample distribution are:
32
32
35
36
37
38
38
39
39
39
40
40
42
45
then the mode would be 39 because a score of 39 occurs 3 times, more than any other score. The mode may be seen on a frequency distribution as the score value which corresponds to the highest point. For example, the following is a frequency polygon of the data presented above:
A distribution may have more than one mode if the two most frequently occurring scores occur the same number of times. For example, if the earlier score distribution were modified as follows:
32
32
32
36
37
38
38
39
39
39
40
40
42
45
then there would be two modes, 32 and 39. Such distributions are called bimodal. The frequency polygon of a bimodal distribution is presented below.
In an extreme case there may be no unique mode, as in the case of a rectangular distribution.
The mode is not sensitive to extreme scores. Suppose the original distribution was modified by changing the last number, 45, to 55 as follows:
32
32
35
36
37
38
38
39
39
39
40
40
42
55
The mode would still be 39.
In any case, the mode is a quick and dirty measure of central tendency. Quick, because it is easily and quickly computed. Dirty because it is not very useful; that is, it does not give much information about the distribution.
The Median
The median, symbolized by Md, is the score value which cuts the distribution in half, such that half the scores fall above the median and half fall below it. Computation of the median is relatively straightforward. The first step is to rank order the scores from lowest to highest. The procedure branches at the next step: one way if there are an odd number of scores in the sample distribution, another if there are an even number of scores.