• Class frequency

• The number of observations corresponding to

a particular class is frequency. In the above
example if the number of chicks between 3.5
and 3.7 is 15, it implies that the frequency is
15.
• If all the individual frequencies are added
together, the total frequency is obtained. The
total frequency is 100.
• Class Midpoint or Class Mark
• It is the value lying halfway between the
upper limit and the lower limit.
• Mid-point of a class = upper limit of the class
+ lower limit of the class / 2 .
• For further calculations, the midpoint is
considered to represent the class in a
continuous data.
• There are two methods of classifying the data
according to class intervals.
• 1. Exclusive method
• 2. Inclusive method

• Exclusive method
• If the class intervals are fixed and the upper limit of
one class becomes the lower limit of the next class,
it is exclusive method of classification.
• Weight
• 3.5-3.7
• 3.7-3.9
• 3.9 – 4.1
• Exclusive method ensures continuity of data so that
upper limit of one class becomes the lower limit of next
class.
• Thus in the above example, there are 15 chicks whose
weight lies between 3.5 to 3.699 kg.
• A chick whose weight is 3.7 would be included in the
class 3.7 to 3.9 kg. T
• his method is widely followed in statistics.
• It would be confusing to a layman who has no statistical
awareness.
• If the class intervals ,upper and lower limit are
repetitive , exclusive method of data entry should be
followed.
• The upper limit is always exclusive and the item with
that value is not included in that class.
• A better way of expressing data in exclusive
method is
• 3.5 but under 3.7
• 3.7 but under 3.9
• It avoids confusion and in practice this
approach is preferred.
 Inclusive method
• In Inclusive method, upper limit of one class is included
in that class itself.
• In the above example, if the class is 3.5 to 3.6, weight s
of chicks between 3.51 to 3.69 would be included in
this class and
• a chick with weight of 3.7 would be placed in the next
class .
• 3.5-3.69
• 3.7- 3.89
• To decide whether exclusive or inclusive method, it
depends on whether the variable is continuous or
discrete.
• For continuous variable, exclusive method is preferred
and for discrete variable, inclusive method is
applicable.
• To ensure continuity of data recorded, an inclusive
data is converted to exclusive data by using the
correction factor.
• Correction factor = Upper limit of succeeding class –
Lower limit of preceding class /2

• Ex. CF = 3.7 – 3.69 /2 = 0.01/2 = 0.005

• The obtained value is subtracted from all the lower
limits and added to all the upper limits to obtain the
class intervals in exclusive form.
• 3.495 – 3.695
• 3.695 – 3.895
• The difference between the limits in the inclusive
method is 0.19
• but adopting the correction factor and conversion
to exclusive form the difference between the limits
becomes 0.2.
• Ex.
• Vari able Frequency
• 1-9 10
• 10-19 25
• 20-29 36
• 30-39 20

• CF = 10 -9 /2 = 0.5
• After adjustment, classes will be,
• 0.5- 9.5
• 0.5 – 9.5 10
• 9.5 – 19.5 25
• 19.5 – 29.5 36
• 29.5 – 39.5 20
• The class intervals should be in the form of 5, 10 or
multiples of 5 to understand and stratify the
distribution.
• Intervals should not have values like 3, 7, 19, 26
etc.,
• In a data which is large having few small values or
large values
• data with more number of observations
concentrated within particular range
• gaps observed with few values or no information
• grouping of data can be done by using open end
class intervals or unequal sized class intervals.
• It is preferable to have equal sized class intervals to
facilitate comparison of data
• If the salary of employees is the criteria of grouping
the data
• the range of limits can be open ended to include
few observations with small and large values at the
end
• and class intervals of varying sizes to include
observations where most values fall and also to
prevent constructing distribution with too many
classes.
Salary No. of individuals
< 5000 15
5000 – 15000 35
15000 – 25000 50
25000 –35000 80
35000 – 45000 65
45000 – 70000 20
70000 – 150000 10
>150000 5