In a frequency distribution, a 

class interval represents the

difference between the upper class limit and the lower class
limit.
In other words, a class interval represents the width of each
class in a frequency distribution.
Example:
Suppose we have the following frequency distribution that
represents the obtained marks by students:

The lower class limit and upper class limit are simply the
smallest and largest possible values in each class:

The class interval is the difference between the upper class limit

and the lower class limit.
For example, the size of the class interval for the first class is 30
– 26 = 4.
Similarly, the size of the class interval for the second class is 31
– 35 = 4.
If we calculate the size of the class interval for each class in the
frequency distribution, we’ll find that each class interval has a
size of 4.

Inclusive Class Interval

An inclusive class interval is created using the inclusive method
of sorting data into a frequency distribution table. In such a
method, the lower limit of a class does not get repeated in the
upper limit of the preceding class.
When a frequency distribution is analyzed the inclusive class
interval has to be converted to an exclusive class interval.
This can be done by subtracting 0.5 from the lower class limit
and adding 0.5 to the upper class limit. An example of an
inclusive class interval is given below:

Class Adjusted Class Frequency

10 - 19 9.5 - 19.5 2

20 - 29 19.5 - 29.5 5

30 - 39 29.5 - 39.5 1
A histogram cannot be plotted for an inclusive class interval.
This is because it will result in a gap between the bars. Thus,
such a class interval has to be converted to an exclusive interval
before a histogram can be drawn.

Exclusive Class Interval

In an exclusive class interval, the upper limit of one class is the
same as the lower limit of the succeeding class. This method of
sorting data ensures continuity between two consecutive classes.
The value of the mean, median, and mode will be the same
irrespective of whether the frequency distribution table has an
inclusive or exclusive class interval. Given below is an example
of an exclusive class interval.

Class Frequency

10 - 20 2

20 - 30 5

30 - 40 1
Example 1: What is the class interval of the following
frequency distribution table?

Class Frequency

15 – 22 4

22 – 29 8

29 – 36 5

36 – 43 1

Example 2: What is the class interval for the given classes?

12 - 16 - 20 - 24 - 28 - 32 –
Class
15 19 23 27 31 35

(When a frequency distribution is analyzed the inclusive class

interval has to be converted to an exclusive class interval)
Example 3: Draw a histogram for the following frequency
distribution and determine the class interval.

Class Frequency

16 - 20 10

21 - 25 15

26 - 30 25

31 - 35 30

Note
A histogram cannot be plotted for an inclusive class interval.
This is because it will result in a gap between the bars. Thus,
such a class interval has to be converted to an exclusive interval
before a histogram can be drawn.