Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

Central Luzon State University

Science City of Muñoz 3120
Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Instructional Module for the Course

PSYCHOLOGICAL
STATISTICS
PSYCH 2104

Prepared by:
Robinson Z. Lumontod III
Bessie May Belza-Soriano

Department of Psychology
College of Arts and Social Sciences

1st Semester 2021-2022

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

MODULE II

Overview

In this module, we will explore ways to correctly and appropriately

organize the numerical data using tables and graphs. As you complete this
module, you will be able to correctly decide which data presentation technique
is best or most appropriate to use for your research.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

By the end of this module, the student should be able to

 be familiarized and knowledgeable about different techniques in
presenting numerical data
 be able to choose and utilize the best data presentation technique suited
for the numerical data at hand

LECTURE NOTES:

2.1. CORE DOMAIN 1: FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS

2.1.1 FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION TABLES

A. Ungrouped Frequency Distribution Table

An ungrouped frequency distribution table allows you to summarize the values and their
frequency within the numerical data set. This is a great way to present data if you have a
list of numbers that are likely to occur from a certain sample distribution. T his is the basic
format and applicable for a small sample size.
To make a frequency distribution table, you can begin with three columns. The first
column indicates the various possible outcomes from the data set, the second column
indicates the frequency of each outcome as indicated in the first column, and the third
column indicates the percentage. A frequency distribution table makes the data easier to
understand. For instance, if you want to know the exact number of male and female
students in a certain class, you can make the following simple table.

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

You can make a similar table for other nominal variables such as religion, sex,
marital status, educational attainment, etc.

B. Grouped Frequency Distribution Table

A grouped frequency distribution table is a little bit different from an ordinary

ungrouped distribution table. The grouped distribution table uses intervals to summarize
the numbers or outcomes in the data set. It is more appropriate to use when you are
dealing with a big sample size that is higher than 30. A grouped frequency table provides
an even more meaningful and clearer presentation of the data.

To make a grouped frequency table, you need to decide or experiment with the
interval size (Aron, Coups, & Aron, 2013). You can have 5 to 20 intervals. Let’s look at the
example table below.

Grouped Frequency Table

Interval Lower/Upper Frequency Percent

Limit
0-4 -.5 – 4.5 2 6.7
5-9 4.5 – 9.5 3 10
10-14 9.5 – 14.5 3 10
15-19 14.5 – 19.5 11 36.7
20-24 19.5 – 24.5 8 26.7
25-29 24.5 – 29.5 3 10

As you can see, the grouped frequency table above uses six intervals with an
interval size of 5. Each interval represents each row of the table which also contains a
bracket of scores. Each interval always has the lower and upper limits. The first interval (as
shown in the table above) has -.5 as the lower limit, and 4.5 as the upper limit (subtracting
.5 from 0 and adding .5 to 4). You can follow the same way for figuring the lower and
upper limits for the rest of the intervals.

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

Quick Reminders in Making Intervals

1. The number of intervals should be between 5 and 20.
2. Make sure that no number belongs to two or more different intervals.
3. All numbers in the data set must be included.
4. There will be no gaps in the distribution.
5. The intervals must have an equal size.

Make a grouped frequency distribution table by following the steps below:

1. Arrange the data from the smallest to the largest values
2. Get the range by subtracting the lowest from the highest value
3. Choose the number of intervals (this may involve trial and error) usually between
5 and 20
4. Calculate the interval size by dividing the range by the chosen number of intervals
(make sure to round up not round off)
5. Start the first interval with a value equal to or less than the lowest value or score
in the data set. Then work from there to complete the set intervals
6. Tally the data
7. List the frequency of each interval

Another Example of Grouped Frequency Table

In this example, suppose that we are interested in finding out how many times
college students use their smartphones when studying their lessons. Part of the instructions
was to have students record their smartphone use when studying for one week. 94 colle ge
students participated in the study. The number of smartphone use for each student over a
week were as follows:
48, 15, 33, 3, 21, 19, 17, 16, 44, 25, 30, 3, 5, 9, 35, 32, 26, 13, 14, 14, 47,
47, 18, 11, 5, 19, 24, 17, 6, 25, 8, 18, 29, 1, 18, 22, 3, 22, 29, 2, 6, 10, 29,
10, 29, 21, 38, 41, 16, 17, 8, 40, 8, 10, 18, 7, 4, 4, 8, 11, 3, 23, 10, 19, 21,
13, 12, 10, 4, 17, 11, 21, 9, 8, 7, 5, 3, 22, 14, 25, 4, 11, 10, 18, 1, 28, 27,
19, 24, 35, 9, 30, 8, 26.

Step 1. Arrange the numbers from lowest to highest

Step 2. Compute for the range by subtracting the lowest from the highest value
Range = H – L
Range = 47
Step 3. Choose the number of intervals (In this example, we chose 10)
Step 4. Calculate the interval size by dividing the range by the chosen number of intervals
Interval Size = Range
Number of intervals
= 47 divided by 10
= 4.7 (always remember to round up)
=5
Our interval size in this case is 5. We can now start making our grouped frequency table.

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

2.1.2. GRAPHS

A graph is another great way to present data in a meaningful way. It is more

effective in large sample sizes.

a.) HISTOGRAMS

The most commonly used graph in psychological research is the histogram. A

histogram is pretty much a bar graph. The only difference is that in the histogram, the bars
are laid next to each other without having space in between something that a bar graph
has (Aron, Coups, & Aron, 2013). The histogram uses the frequency values in the y -axis
and the measured variable in the x-axis. You can make a histogram based on the grouped
frequency table distribution by plotting the frequencies on the y -axis and the measured
variables on the x-axis. Then draw connected bar graphs based on the values from the x
and the y-axis. Below is a histogram example based on the first grouped frequency table
above.

As you can see, the histogram above does not have space between bars. The Y axis
represents the frequency and the X axis represents the variable being measured.

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

How to Make a Histogram?

The following are the common steps applied in making histogram:

1. Make a frequency grouped frequency table.
2. Put the values along the bottom of the page, from left to right, from lowest to
highest.
3. Create a scale of frequencies on the left (Y axis).
4. Make a bar above each value with height for the frequency of that value.

Another Example of Histogram

In this example, let’s make a histogram based on the second grouped frequency table.

b.) BAR GRAPH

A bar graph (or bar chart) is a type of graph in which each column (plotted
either vertically or horizontally) represents a categorical variable. (A categorical variable
is a variable that has two or more categories with no intrinsic ordering to the
categories. For example, gender is a categorical variable with two categories: male and
female.)

http://www.mathscore.com/math/free/lessons/Ohio/1st_grade/Bar_Graphs_lesson.html

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

c.) FREQUENCY POLYGONS

A frequency polygon is a line graph of class frequency plotted against class midpoint. It
can be obtained by joining the midpoints of the tops of the rectangles in the histogram

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/mathematics/frequency-polygon

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

2.2 CORE DOMAIN 2: THE SHAPE OF A FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION

TYPES OF FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS

Generally, there are four basic types of frequency distributions: unimodal,

bimodal, multimodal, and rectangular. A frequency distribution is unimodal if it has
one high point. If the frequency distribution has two approximately equal high points,
then it is bimodal. A frequency distribution that has more than two high points are
called multimodal. Lastly, if the values in the distribution are fairly the same, the
distribution is considered rectangular distribution.

2.2.1. SYMMETRICAL DISTRIBUTION

A symmetrical distribution occurs when the values of variables appear at

regular frequencies and often the mean, median, and mode all occur at the
same point. If a line were drawn dissecting the middle of the graph, it would reveal
two sides that mirror one other

2.2.2. SKEWED DISTRIBUTION

A skewed distribution, on the other hand, is a distribution that is not

symmetrical. The skewed distribution represents the area where most scores are
located. The area that has fewer scores is the direction of the skew.

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

a.) POSITIVELY SKEWED DISTRIBUTION

A distribution is skewed if one of its tails is longer than the other. The first
distribution shown has a positive skew. This means that it has a long tail in the positive
direction.

b.) NEGATIVELY SKEWED DISTRIBUTION

A negatively skewed (also known as left-skewed) distribution is a type of

distribution in which more values are concentrated on the right side (tail) of the
distribution graph while the left tail of the distribution graph is longer.

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022
 Psych 2104 Psychological Statistics

References

Aron, A., Coups, E. J., & Aron, A. N. (2013). Statistics for Psychology: Sixth Edition.
Pearson Education, Inc.

Department of Psychology
A.Y. 2021-2022