Unit VI

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit, the students should be able to:

1. Prepare a frequency distribution table for qualitative and quantitative data

2. Construct a cumulative frequency distribution table

6.1. The Frequency Distribution

The most convenient way of organizing data is by constructing frequency
distribution. A frequency distribution is a collection of observation produced by sorting
them into classes and showing their frequency ( or numbers ) o f occurrences in each
class.
A frequency distribution is headed by a table number and a title.

6.1.1 Three types of frequency distribution

a. Categorical
b. Ungrouped
c. Grouped
The categorical frequency distribution is used for data that can be placed in specific
categories, such as nominal or ordinal level data.

Example 1 : Frequency Distribution for Nominal Data

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 Table 2.1 High School Graduates for School Year 1997-98
Sex Frequency (f)
Male 28
Female 32
Total 60

Example 2 : Frequency Distribution for Ordinal Data

Table 2.2 Performance Evaluation of ABC Employees

Performance Evaluation Frequency (f)
Outstanding 8
Very Satisfactory 23
Satisfactory 7
Unsatisfactory 2
TOTAL 40
The first two examples show a frequency distribution where the frequency of
each category is given. Let’s consider the data below:

Example 3 The following data give the results of a sample survey. The letters A, B, and
C represent the three categories.

A B A A C C A C C C
C B C B B C B B B C
B C C A C C C ssB C A
Construct a frequency distribution table for these data.

Solution: The categories are the letters. Record these categories in the first column.
Then read each result from the given data and mark a tally, denoted by
“ / “ in the second column next to the corresponding category. The tallies are marked in
blocks of five for counting convenience. Lastly, record the total tallies for each category
in the third column. This column is called the frequency column.

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Category Tally Frequency ( f )
A /////-/ 6
B /////-//// 9
C /////-/////-///// 15
Sum=30

The sum of the entries in the frequency column gives the sample size or total frequency.
When observations are sorted into classes of single values, the result is called a
frequency distribution for ungrouped data

Example 3: The scores of 15 students in a 35-item test in Statistics is shown in the

table below:

Table 2.3 Scores of 15 students in a 35- item test in Statistics

Score Frequency
32 2
30 1
29 1
28 1
27 1
26 1
25 3
24 1
21 2
20 2
N=15 (Total frequency)

When observations are sorted into classes with more than one value, the result is called
frequency distribution for grouped data.

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Interval data are organized into a grouped frequency distribution in order to
condense the separate scores into fewer number of categories or groups.

Table 2.4 shows a frequency distribution for an interval data

Table 2.4 Monthly Salary of 75 Employees in Del Bros Inc .in Makati
Monthly Salary Number of Employees

Lowest class → 5100-5599 10

interval 5600-6099 15←frequency of the
6100-6599 22 2ndclass interval
6600-7099 13
7100-7599 9
7600-8099 6_
N= 75
The following are the basic terminologies associated with grouped frequency distribution
table.

Class Frequencies indicate the number of observations falling within the different
categories or class interval.
Class interval contains a grouping defined by the limits called the lower and upper limit.
Class limits refer to the end of a class and the lowest limits that can go into each class.
It is composed of the lower and upper limit of a class interval
Classmark or midpoint refers to the average of the lower and upper limit.
Class boundaries refer to the lower exact limit and upper exact limit of a class interval.
They are used to separate the classes so that there are no gaps in the frequency
distribution.

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Lower exact limit of a class interval is obtained by subtracting .5 from the lower limit
Upper exact limit of a class interval is obtained by adding .5 to the upper limit
Class size refers to the width of each class interval

Ways of determining the class size:

By getting the difference between the upper and lower class boundaries of a class
interval.
By getting the difference between any two consecutive upper limits.
By getting the difference between any two consecutive lower limits.
In table 2.3 the class limits of the lowest class interval are 5100 and 5599, the lower
limit is 5100 while the upper limit is 5599, the class boundaries are 5099.5 and 5599.5
the lower exact limit is 5099.5 while the upper exact limit is 5599.5 the class size is 500
and the midpoint or classmark is 5349.5

The formula in finding the midpoint is shown below:

Midpoint = lower limit + upper limit = 5100 + 5599 = 5349.5

2 2
Class Lower limit Upper limit Midpoint Class Frequency
interval Boundaries
100-104 100 104 102 99.5-104.5 5
105-109 105 109 107 104.5-109.5 16
110-114 110 114 112 109.5-114.5 11
115-119 115 119 117 114.5-119.5 40
120-124 120 124 122 119.5-124.5 8

If the data given are raw scores then the following are the steps in constructing a
grouped frequency distribution :

Step 1 Decide the number of classes your frequency table will have. Usually, it
is between 5 and 20.

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Step 2 Find the range. This is the difference between the highest and the
lowest scores.
Step 3 Find the class size or the class width. Divide the range by the number
of classes. The class width should be an odd number. This ensures
that the midpoint of each class has the same value as the data.
Step 4 Select a starting point, either the lowest score or the lower class limit.
Then enter the upper class limit.
Step 5 Find the boundaries by subtracting 0.5 from each lower class limit and
adding .5 to the upper class limit.
Step 6 Represent each score by a tally.
Step 7 Count the total frequency for each class.
Step 8 Complete the frequency distribution table by writing the table no. and the
title.

Example: Table 2.4 Chemistry Test Scores of 40 Students

34 31 9 34 38 15 21 23

36 33 28 27 12 38 17 50

34 35 22 26 43 31 31 15

34 39 30 28 49 23 16 11

24 34 16 30 52 33 27 38

Construct a frequency distribution table .

Step 1: The number of classes is 15 ( chosen arbitrarily )

Step 2: Determine the Range ( R ) R= Highest score – Lowest score
= 52 – 9
= 43
Step 3 Class size or class width = R / classes = 43 /15 = 2.87 ≈ 3
Step 4 Determine the lower class limits

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Lower Class limits Class intervals
9 9-11
12 12- 14
15 15 -17
18 18- 20
21 21- 23
24 24-26
27 27-29
30 30-32
33 33-35
36 36-38
39 39-41
42 41-44
45 45-47
48 48-50
51 51-53

Subtract 1 unit from the lower class limit of the second class interval to obtain the
upper limit of the first class interval. That is 12 -1 = 11 so the first class interval is 9-11.
Then add the class width to get the succeeding upper class limit. Take note that class
interval is defined by the limits of the class, that is the lower and the upper limit.
Step 5 Determine the class boundaries

Class intervals Class Boundaries

9- 11 8.5 - 11.5
12- 14 11.5 –14.5
15 -17 14.5 -17.5
18- 20 17.5 - 20.5
21- 23 20.5- 23.5
24-26 23.5- 26.5

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 27-29 26.5- 29.5
30-32 29.5- 32.5
33-35 32.5- 35.5
36-38 35.5 - 38.5
39-41 38.5- 41.5
41-44 41.5- 44.5
45-47 44.5- 47.5
48-50 47.5- 50.5
51-53 50.5 – 53.5

Step 6 Tally the scores

Class intervals Class Boundaries Tally

9- 11 8.5 - 11.5 ││
12- 14 11.5 –14.5 │
15 -17 14.5 -17.5 │││││
18- 20 17.5 - 20.5
21- 23 20.5- 23.5 ││││
24-26 23.5- 26.5 ││
27-29 26.5- 29.5 ││││
30-32 29.5- 32.5 │││││
33-35 32.5- 35.5 │││││ - │││
36-38 35.5 - 38.5 ││││
39-41 38.5- 41.5 │
41-44 41.5- 44.5 │
45-47 44.5- 47.5
48-50 47.5- 50.5 ││
51-53 50.5 – 53.5 │

Step 7 Count the tally for each class interval

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Class intervals Class Boundaries Tally Frequency
9- 11 8.5 - 11.5 ││ 2
12- 14 11.5 –14.5 │ 1
15 -17 14.5 -17.5 │││││ 5
18- 20 17.5 - 20.5 0
21- 23 20.5- 23.5 ││││ 4
24-26 23.5- 26.5 ││ 2
27-29 26.5- 29.5 ││││ 4
30-32 29.5- 32.5 │││││ 5
33-35 32.5- 35.5 │││││ - │││ 8
36-38 35.5 - 38.5 ││││ 4
39-41 38.5- 41.5 │ 1
41-44 41.5- 44.5 │ 1
45-47 44.5- 47.5 0
48-50 47.5- 50.5 ││ 2
51-53 50.5 – 53.5 │ 1

Step 8 Make the frequency distribution table

Table 2.4 Grouped Frequency Distribution of Chemistry Scores

Class intervals Class Boundaries Tally Frequency
9- 11 8.5 - 11.5 ││ 2
12- 14 11.5 –14.5 │ 1
15 -17 14.5 -17.5 │││││ 5
18- 20 17.5 - 20.5 0
21- 23 20.5- 23.5 ││││ 4
24-26 23.5- 26.5 ││ 2
27-29 26.5- 29.5 ││││ 4
30-32 29.5- 32.5 │││││ 5

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 33-35 32.5- 35.5 │││││ - │││ 8
36-38 35.5 - 38.5 ││││ 4
39-41 38.5- 41.5 │ 1
41-44 41.5- 44.5 │ 1
45-47 44.5- 47.5 0
48-50 47.5- 50.5 ││ 2
51-53 50.5 – 53.5 │ 1

A variation of the standard frequency table is used when cumulative totals are desired.
The cumulative frequency of a table ,when the class intervals are arranged in
increasing order, the first number in the cumulative frequency column is the frequency
of the lowest class interval. Then add this frequency to the frequency of the next class
interval to get the cumulative frequency of the second class interval. Continue adding
the frequency to the next interval until it reaches the highest class interval. It should be
noted that the cumulative frequency of the highest class interval is equal to the total
frequency.

Table 2.5 Cumulative Frequency Distribution of Chemistry Scores

Class intervals Class Boundaries Tally Frequency Cumulative Frequency
9- 11 8.5 - 11.5 ││ 2 2
12- 14 11.5 –14.5 │ 1 3
15 -17 14.5 -17.5 │││││ 5 8
18- 20 17.5 - 20.5 0 8
21- 23 20.5- 23.5 ││││ 4 12
24-26 23.5- 26.5 ││ 2 14
27-29 26.5- 29.5 ││││ 4 18
30-32 29.5- 32.5 │││││ 5 23

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 33-35 32.5- 35.5 │││││ - │││ 8 31
36-38 35.5 - 38.5 ││││ 4 35
39-41 38.5- 41.5 │ 1 36
41-44 41.5- 44.5 │ 1 37
45-47 44.5- 47.5 0 37
48-50 47.5- 50.5 ││ 2 39
51-53 50.5 – 53.5 │ 1 40

Exercises

1. Construct a grouped frequency distribution table for the following scores of college
students on a self-esteem inventory and fill-up the table below.

40 47 40 55 38 51 42 42 23 65
23 34 61 39 38 41 25 30 44 41
40 51 32 39 34 38 46 41 41 23
51 32 41 41 58 36 44 29 42 30
55 34 42 42 41 55 53 55 41 25

Class Class Midpoints Tally Frequency Cumulative

interval boundaries Frequency

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