In a survey conducted by a group of students on 20 households in a local area, the following frequency table has been obtained related to the number of household family members: Size of the family Number of families 1 – 3 7 3 – 5 9 5 – 7 2 7 – 9 1 9 – 11 1 Find the mode of these observations.

For grouped frequency data, the mode is calculated using: Mode = L + [(f₁ - f₀) / (2f₁ - f₀ - f₂)] × h, where L is lower limit of modal class, f₁ is frequency of modal class, f₀ is frequency of preceding class, f₂ is frequency of succeeding class, h is class width. Modal class is 3-5 (highest frequency 9). Mode = 3 + [(9-7) / (2×9-7-2)] × 2 = 3 + [2/9] × 2 = 3 + 4/9 = 3.444. The claimed answer D is correct.