CHAPTER 2

Frequency Distributions
and Graphs
 Outline

• 2-1 Introduction
• 2-2 Organizing Data
• 2-3 Histograms, Frequency
Polygons, and Ogives
• 2-4 Other Types of Graphs
 Objectives

• Organize data using frequency distributions.

• Represent data in frequency distributions

graphically using histograms, frequency
polygons, and ogives.

• Represent data using Pareto charts, time

series graphs, and pie graphs.
 2-1 Introduction

• In a statistical study, data organization and

presentation are very important for better
understanding and interpretation.
 2-2 Organizing Data

• When data are collected in original form,

they are called raw data.

• When the raw data is organized into a

frequency distribution, the frequency
will be the number of values in a specific
class of the distribution.
• A frequency distribution is the
organization of raw data in table form,
using classes and frequencies.
2-2 Types of Frequency Distribution

• There are three major type of frequency

distribution:
i) Categorical Frequency Distribution
ii) Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
iii) Grouped frequency Distribution
 Categorical Frequency Distribution

• Categorical frequency
• Distribution attributes.

• Example: Gender, blood type, major field of

study, religious affiliation, etc.
Example of Categorical Frequency Distribution
Blood Type

Class Frequency

A 5
B 7
AB 9
O 4
Total 25
 Ungrouped Frequency Distribution

• Ungrouped frequency distribution is used

for data that can be counted or measured,
however the data range is not wide.
Example of Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
Number of children in a family

Class Frequency
0 5
1 10
2 7
3 4
Total 26
 Grouped Frequency Distribution

• Grouped frequency distribution is used for data that

can be counted or measured.

• The range of values in the data set is very large. The

data must be grouped into classes that are more
than one unit in width.

• Example: Traveling time in mins, body length in cm,

life of boat batteries in hrs, etc.
 Example of Grouped Frequency Distribution
Lifetimes of Boat Batteries

Class limits Class Frequency Cumulative

boundaries frequency
24-30 23.5-30.5 3 3

31-37 30.5-37.5 1 4

38-44 37.5-44.5 5 9

45-51 44.5-51.5 9 18

Data are classified in

a range of values
2-2 Associated Terms for Grouped
Frequency Distribution

Class Limits

Class Class
Boundaries Width
 Class Limits

 Class limits represent the smallest and largest

data values that can be included in a class.

 Upper class limits The largest value in a

class

 Lower class limits The smallest value in a

class
 Class Limits

26-30
31-35
36-40

Can you identify the upper and lower class limits

for all the classes shown above?
 Class Boundaries

Class boundaries used to separate the

classes so that there are no gaps in the
frequency distribution.
 How to find class boundaries?

 Lower class boundary = (Lower class limit of a

class + Upper class limit of the previous
class)/2

 Upper class boundary = (Upper class limit of a

class + Lower class limit of the subsequent
class)/2
 Class Limits

Class 1: 11-15
Class 2: 16-20
Class 3: 21-25

What is the lower class boundary for class 2?

What is the upper class boundary for class 2?

 Class Width

Class width represents the size of a

class.

Class width can be calculated by

subtracting the upper class boundary from
lower class boundary of the same class.
 Class

Class width
Lower class Upper class
boundary
4.5 5 - 9 9.5
boundary

Lower class limit Upper class limit

 2-2 Guidelines for Constructing
a Frequency Distribution

1. The classes must be mutually exclusive

Age
11-20
Mutually exclusive
21-30 - No overlapping in class limits
so that data can only be
31-40
placed in one class.
41-50
2. The classes must be continuous.

Age
10-20 Continuous
- There is no gap between
21-31 different classes.

32-42
43-53
3. There should be between 5 and 20 classes.

4. The classes must be equal in width.

2-2 Procedures for Constructing
a Grouped Frequency Distribution

Step 1

 Find the highest and lowest value.

 Find the range (Highest - Lowest).
 Select the number of classes desired.
Find the width by dividing the range by the
number of classes and rounding up.
 Select a starting point (usually the lowest
value); add the width to get the lower limits.
 Find the upper class limits.
 Find the boundaries.
 Step 2
 Tally the data.

Step 3

 Find the frequency.

Step 4
 Find the cumulative frequency.
 2-2 Example for Grouped
Frequency Distribution

A book store recorded the number of books sold

on 20 consecutive Fridays. Construct a grouped
frequency distribution for these

10 8 6 14
22 13 17 19
11 9 18 14
13 12 15 15
5 11 16 11
STEP 1: Find the highest and lowest values
H = 22 and L = 5

STEP 2: Find the range

Range = 22 – 5 = 17

STEP 3: Select the number of classes

desired. In this case it is equal to 6.
STEP 4: Find the class width by dividing the
range by the number of classes.
Width = 17/6 = 2.83.
This value is rounded up to 3.

STEP 5: Select a starting point for the lowest

class limit. In this case, 5 was chosen
as it is the smallest data value. The
lower class limits will be 5, 8, 11, 14,
17, and 20.
STEP 6: The upper class limits will be 7, 10, 13, 16,
19, and 22. For example, the upper limit for
the first class is 7.

STEP 7: Find the class boundaries by subtracting 0.5

from each lower class limit and adding 0.5 to
the upper class limit.

STEP 8: Tally the data, write the numerical values for

the tallies in the frequency column, and find
the cumulative frequencies.
Class Limits Class Frequency Cumulative
Boundaries Frequency

5–7 4.5 – 7.5 2 2

8 – 10 7.5 – 10.5 3 5
11 – 13 10.5 – 13.5 6 11
14 – 16 13.5 – 16.5 5 16
17 – 19 16.5 – 19.5 3 19
20 - 22 19.5 – 22.5 1 20
2-3 Histograms, Frequency
Polygons, and Ogives

Three most commonly used graphs in

research are:

 Histogram.
 Frequency polygon.
 Cumulative frequency graph, or ogive.
 Histogram

• Histogram is a graph that displays the data by

using contiguous vertical bars of various
heights to represent the frequencies of the
classes.
 Example of Histogram

Frequency

Class
boundaries
 Histogram VS Bar Chart

No gap between There is a gap

the bars between the bars
 Frequency Polygon

• Frequency polygon is the graph that displays

the data by using lines that connect points plotted
for the frequencies at the midpoints of the
classes. The frequency are represented by the
heights of the points.
Example of Frequency Polygon

Frequency
Polygon
 How to plot a frequency polygon?

1. Plot a histogram.

2. Mark on the mid-point of each class

interval.

3. Join all the mid-points with a straight line.

Mid-point of an interval = ½ (lower CB + upper CB)

 Cumulative Graph / Ogive

• Cumulative graph or ogive is a graph

that represents the cumulative frequencies
for the classes in a frequency distribution.
Example of Frequency Polygon

Ogive
 How to plot an ogive?

1. Cumulative frequencies are plotted

against the upper class boundaries.

2. The points are joined with a smooth curve.

 Question
10 students were asked to solve a simple problem
and the time taken by each was noted. Construct a
histogram, frequency polygon, and ogive for this data.

Time (seconds) Frequency

10-19 1
20-29 3
30-39 4
40-49 2
2-3 Other Types of Graphs

Pareto chart is used to represent a

frequency distribution for a categorical
variable, and the frequencies are displayed
by the heights of vertical bars, which are
arranged in order from highest to lowest.
 Example of Pareto Chart

Bars are arranged from highest to

lowest frequency
• Time series graph represents data that
occur over a specific period of time.
Example of Time Series Chart

Changes in
number of
customers over
a certain period
of time
• Pie chart is a circle divided into sections
according to the percentage of frequencies
in each category of the distribution.

• A pie chart should not consist of too many

segments (less than eight is suggested).
Example of Pie Chart