Introduction:

Since ancient times, the term ‘Ogive’ has been used to describe round or arc
shapes in gothic architecture.

In architecture the word ‘Ogive’ is a term used to describe curves or curved

shapes. Despite being a term originating from architecture has found its place in
statistics as well.

The ogive in statistics is a graph for the distribution of cumulative frequencies

that shows the value of data sets on a horizontal x surface and the cumulative
frequency on the vertical y-axis.

Ogives are graphs that help identify how many data points lie below or above a
specific value or variable.

Definition:
When cumulative frequency plotted against the corresponding class boundary
and the successive point joint by straight, the diagram obtained is called Ogive

Method of Drawing Ogive:

To construct an Ogive, firstly, the cumulative frequency of the variables is
calculated employing a frequency table.

Cumulative frequency is defined as the sum of all the previous frequencies up to

the current point. This is achieved by adding the frequencies of all preceding
variables in the given data set. The final number in the cumulative frequency
table is always equal to the total frequencies of the variables.

An ogive is drawn by

 plotting the beginning of the first interval at a y𝑦-value of zero;

 plotting the end of every interval at the y𝑦-value equal to the cumulative
count for that interval; and
 connecting the points on the plot with straight lines.
 Types:
As there are two types of cumulative frequency distribution; i.e., Less than
cumulative frequencies and More than cumulative frequencies, the ogives
are also of two types:

1. Less than Ogive

2. More than Ogive

1. More than Ogive:

The frequencies of all preceding classes are added to the frequency of a class.
This series is called the less than cumulative series. It is constructed by adding
the first-class frequency to the second-class frequency and then to the third class
frequency and so on. The downward cumulation results in the less than
cumulative series.

 How to Draw More Than Ogive Curve?

 Draw and mark the horizontal and vertical axes.

 Take the cumulative frequencies along the y-axis (vertical axis) and
the upper-class limits on the x-axis (horizontal axis).

 Against each upper-class limit, plot the cumulative frequencies.

 Connect the points with a continuous curve.

 Against each lower-class limit, plot the cumulative frequencies.

 Example:
Question: Construct the more than cumulative frequency table and draw the
Ogive for the below-given data.

Marks 1 - 10 11 - 20 21 -30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80

Frequenc 3 8 12 14 10 6 5 2
y
Solution:

“More than” Cumulative Frequency Table:

Marks Frequency More Than Cumulative Frequency

More than 1 3 60
More than 11 8 57
More than 21 12 49
More than 31 14 37
More than 41 10 23
More than 51 6 13
More than 61 5 7
More than 71 2 2

Plot the points with coordinates such as (70.5, 2), (60.5, 7), (50.5, 13), (40.5,
23), (30.5, 37), (20.5, 49), (10.5, 57), (0.5, 60).

An Ogive is connected to a point on the x-axis, that represents the actual upper
limit of the last class, i.e.,( 80.5, 0)

Take x-axis, 1 cm = 10 marks

Y-axis = 1 cm – 10 c.f
More than the Ogive Curve:
2. Less than Ogive
The frequencies of all preceding classes are added to the frequency of a class.
This series is called the less than cumulative series. It is constructed by adding
the first-class frequency to the second-class frequency and then to the third class
frequency and so on. The downward cumulation results in the less than
cumulative series.

 How to Draw Less Than Ogive Curve?

 Draw and mark the horizontal and vertical axes.

 Take the cumulative frequencies along the y-axis (vertical axis) and the
lower-class limits on the x-axis (horizontal axis).
 Against each lower-class limit, plot the cumulative frequencies.
 Connect the points with a continuous curve.

 Example:

Draw a ‘less than’ ogive curve from the following distribution of the marks of
50 students in a class.

50-
10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 60-70 70-80
Marks 60

No. of Students 6 4 15 5 8 7 5

Solution:

First of all, we have to convert the frequency distribution into a less than
cumulative frequency distribution.
Marks No. of Students (f) No. of Students (cf)

Less than 20 6 6

Less than 30 4 6 + 4 = 10

Less than 40 15 6 + 4 + 15 = 25

Less than 50 5 6 + 4+ 15 + 5 = 30

Less than 60 8 6 + 4 + 15 + 5 + 8 = 38

Less than 70 7 6 + 4 + 15 + 5 + 8 + 7 = 45

Less than 80 5 6 + 4 + 15 + 5 + 8 + 7 + 5 = 50
Now, plot these values of cumulative frequency on a graph.

Uses in Statistics:
1. To find Median:
For example,
Determine the median value of the following series using the Less than and More
than Ogive Approach:

0- 10- 25-
5-10 15-20 20-25 30-35
5 15 30
Marks

3 10 15 7 4 6 5
No. of Students
Solution:
 Class Size Cumulative Class Size Cumulative
(Less than) Frequency (More than) Frequency

Less than 5 3 More than 0 50

Less than 10 13 More than 5 47

Less than 15 28 More than 10 37

Less than 20 35 More than 15 22

Less than 25 39 More than 20 15

Less than 30 45 More than 25 11

Less than 35 50 More than 30 5

The less than and more than ogive cuts each other at point B, and the point at
which the perpendicular drawn on X-axis from point B is the median value of
the given series.

Therefore, the Median (M) = 14

2. To Determine Percentile:
Percentiles: A percentile is a certain percentage of a set of data. Percentiles are
used to observe
how many of a given set of data fall within a certain percentage range; for
example;
a thirtieth percentile indicates data that lies the 13% mark of the entire data
set.
Calculating Percentiles

Let designate a percentile as Pm where m represents the

percentile we’re finding, for example for the tenth percentile, m} would
be 10. Given that the total number of elements in the data set is N

Example:

Find the First, Second and Third Quartiles of the data set below using the
cumulative
frequency curve.

Age (years) Frequency

10 5

11 10

12 27

13 18

14 6

15 16

16 38

17 9

Solution:
Age (years) Frequency Cumulative Frequency

10 5 5

11 10 15

12 27 42

13 18 60
14 6 66

15 16 82

16 38 120

17 9 129

From the Ogive, we can see the positions where the quartiles lie and thus can
approximate
them as follows
The 1st Quartile also known as 25th Percentile.

The 2st Quartile or Median also known as 50th Percentile.

The 3rd Quartile also known as 75th Percentile.