[R] using kernel density estimates to infer mode of distribution

[Dan Rabosky]

Hello...

Is it possible to use "density" or another kernel density estimator to 
identify the mode of a distribution?  When I use 'density', the resulting 
density plot of my data is much cleaner than the original noisy histogram, 
and I can clearly see the signal that I am interested in.  E.g., suppose my 
data is actually drawn from two or more normal (or other) 
distributions.  Looking at the kernel density plots, it seems that the 
estimator gives a good approximation of the modal values of each 
distribution, but I can't figure out how to obtain these values short of 
visually estimating the location of the mode using the plot(density).

Is there a relatively easy way to do this?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Dan Rabosky



Dan Rabosky
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY14853-2701 USA
web: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/evb/Graduates_Dan.htm