EXAMPLE OF FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION

SJS Travel Agency, a nationwide local travel agency, offers special rates on summer
period. The owner wants additional information on the ages of those people taking travel tours.
A random sample of 50 customers taking travel tours last summer revealed these ages.

18 29 42 57 61 67 37 49 53 47
24 34 45 58 63 70 39 51 54 48
28 36 46 60 66 77 40 52 56 49
19 31 44 58 62 68 38 50 54 48
27 36 46 59 64 74 39 51 55 48

Construct a frequency distribution and determine the following:

a. Range e. Relative frequency
b. Interval f. Percentages
c. Class Limit g. Cumulative frequency
d. Class boundaries
Solution:
Step 1: Arrange the raw data in ascending order.

18 29 37 42 47 49 53 57 61 67
19 31 38 44 48 50 54 58 62 68
24 34 39 45 48 51 54 58 63 70
27 36 39 46 48 51 55 59 64 74
28 36 40 46 49 52 56 60 66 77

Step 2: Determine the classes

 Find the highest and lowest value.

Highest Value (HV) = 77 and Lowest Value (LV) = 18

 Find the range.

Range = HV – LV = 77 – 18 = 59

 Determine the class interval or width.

𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
Suggest Class Interval =
1+3.322(𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠)
77−18 59
= 1+3.322(log 50) = 1+3.322(1.698970004)
59
= 6.643978354 = 8.88 ≈ 9

 Select a starting point for the lowest class limit. The lowest value in the data set is 18,
this will serve as our starting point.

 Set the individual class limit. We will add 9 to each lower class limit until reaching the
number of classes (18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63, and 72). To obtain the upper class limits, we
 need to subtract one unit to the lower limit of the second class to obtain the upper limit of
the first class. That is, 27 – 1 = 26. Then add the interval (or width) to each upper limit to
obtain all the upper limits (26, 35, 44, 53, 62, 71, and 80).
Class Limits
18 – 26
27 – 35
36 – 44
45 – 53
54 – 62
63 – 71
72 - 80

 Set the class boundaries in each class. To obtain the class boundaries, we need to
subtract 0.5 from each lower class limit and add 0.5 to each upper class.
Class Limits Class Boundaries
18 – 26 17.5 – 26.5
27 – 35 26.5 – 35.5
36 – 44 35.5 – 44.5
45 – 53 44.5 – 53.5
54 – 62 53.5 – 62.5
63 – 71 62.5 – 71.5
72 - 80 71.5 – 80.5

Step 3: Tally the raw data.

Class Limits Class Boundaries Tally

18 – 26 17.5 – 26.5 III
27 – 35 26.5 – 35.5 IIII
36 – 44 35.5 – 44.5 IIII – IIII
45 – 53 44.5 – 53.5 IIII – IIII – IIII
54 – 62 53.5 – 62.5 IIII – IIII – I
63 – 71 62.5 – 71.5 IIII – I
72 - 80 71.5 – 80.5 II

Step 4: Convert the tallied data into numerical frequencies

Class Limits Class Boundaries Tally Frequency

18 – 26 17.5 – 26.5 III 3
27 – 35 26.5 – 35.5 IIII 5
36 – 44 35.5 – 44.5 IIII – IIII 9
45 – 53 44.5 – 53.5 IIII – IIII – IIII 14
54 – 62 53.5 – 62.5 IIII – IIII – I 11
63 – 71 62.5 – 71.5 IIII – I 6
72 - 80 71.5 – 80.5 II 2
Step 5: Determine the cumulative frequency.

Class Frequency Less than Found by More than Found

Limits Cumulative Cumulative by
Frequency frequency
18 – 26 3 3 3 50 47+3
27 – 35 5 9 3+5 47 42+4
36 – 44 9 17 3+5+9 42 33+9
45 – 53 14 31 3+5+9+14 33 19+14
54 – 62 11 42 3+5+9+14+11 19 8+11
63 – 71 6 48 3+5+9+14+11+6 8 2+6
72 - 80 2 50 3+5+9+14+11+6+2 2 0+2

Step 6: Determine the relative frequency.

Class Limits Frequency Relative Frequency Found by

18 – 26 3 0.06 3÷50
27 – 35 5 0.10 5÷50
36 – 44 9 0.18 9÷50
45 – 53 14 0.28 14÷50
54 – 62 11 0.22 11÷50
63 – 71 6 0.12 6÷50
72 - 80 2 0.04 2÷50

Step 7: Determine the percentage.

Class Limits Frequency Percentage Found by

18 – 26 3 6 (3÷50) x 100
27 – 35 5 10 (5÷50) x 100
36 – 44 9 18 (9÷50) x 100
45 – 53 14 28 (14÷50) x 100
54 – 62 11 22 (11÷50) x 100
63 – 71 6 12 (6÷50) x 100
72 - 80 2 4 (2÷50) x 100
Total 50 100

Step 8: Determine the midpoints.

Class Limits Frequency Midpoints Found by

18 – 26 3 22 (18 + 26) ÷ 2
27 – 35 5 31 (27 + 35) ÷ 2
36 – 44 9 40 (36 + 44) ÷ 2
45 – 53 14 49 (45 + 53) ÷ 2
54 – 62 11 58 (54 + 62) ÷ 2
63 – 71 6 67 (63 + 71) ÷ 2
72 - 80 2 76 (72 + 80) ÷ 2