ActiveRecord + CodeIgniter - Return single value from query, not in array form

Say you construct an activerecord query that will always just return a single value, how do you just address that single value instead of getting an array in return? For instance I am using an ActiveRecord query to return the SUM of a single column, it will only return this one single SUM, instead of having to parse the array is there a way to assign the value as a function return equal to that value instead of getting an array?Say you construct an activerecord query that wi