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Freq Polygon

Frequency polygons can visualize and compare two data sets. Jessica and Sam, archery coaches, want to compare how many bull's-eyes their students hit from varying distances. A frequency polygon shows the distribution of each data set by connecting points placed at the midpoints of a histogram. Jessica and Sam's frequency polygon shows her students were more consistent at closer distances while Sam's students hit more bull's-eyes from farther away.

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shaheer
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65 views5 pages

Freq Polygon

Frequency polygons can visualize and compare two data sets. Jessica and Sam, archery coaches, want to compare how many bull's-eyes their students hit from varying distances. A frequency polygon shows the distribution of each data set by connecting points placed at the midpoints of a histogram. Jessica and Sam's frequency polygon shows her students were more consistent at closer distances while Sam's students hit more bull's-eyes from farther away.

Uploaded by

shaheer
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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requency polygons can be used to analyze data sets in many different ways.

They are also a great


way to visualize and compare two sets of data. In this lesson, learn the uses and create a frequency
polygon.

Frequency Polygons
Jessica and Sam are archery coaches at rival high schools. Jessica claims that her students can
shoot more bull's-eyes overall than Sam's students. Sam says his students are the best archery
students. Jessica says her students are the best archery students.
So, who's right? Sam and Jessica can use a frequency polygon to compare their data and see, once
and for all, who has the best archery students. In this lesson, learn how frequency polygons are
used in analyzing data and how to create a frequency polygon.

What Are Frequency Polygons?


A frequency polygon is a line graph created by joining all of the top points of a histogram. They are
called polygons because the line the graph creates resembles half of a polygon.
Frequency polygons:

 Show the shape of a distribution of data


 Can be seen with or without the histogram bars
 Have end points that lie on the x-axis
 Can be used to compare two sets of data
 Are best for comparisons of data that have the same sample size

Jessica and Sam have five students each. During the past two weeks, each student shot a total of
ten arrows at a bull's-eye from varying distances. A frequency polygon can show the shape of a
distribution of data. Sometimes, it is easier to visualize two sets of data side-by-side by using a
frequency polygon. You can use a frequency polygon with or without a histogram, and you'll see
examples of this later on.
This is a table showing how many arrows hit a bull's-eye at each distance:
Data table for example

Since Jessica and Sam have the same number of arrows, they can compare their data using a
frequency polygon.

Creating Frequency Polygons


Let's use Jessica and Sam's data to create a frequency polygon.
To create a frequency polygon, follow these steps:

1. Create a histogram
2. Find the midpoints for each bar on the histogram
3. Place a point on the origin and at the end of the histogram
4. Connect the points

Histogram for example

First, use the data to create a histogram. The horizontal, or the x-axis, shows the distances of each
bull's-eye, while the vertical, or the y-axis, shows the number of arrows that struck each bull's-eye for
Jessica and for Sam. The vertical axis is the frequency in the distribution of data. The frequency for
Jessica's data is represented by the blue lines, and the frequency for Sam's data is represented by
the orange lines.
Next, find the midpoints for each bar on the histogram. Mostly, you just want to make sure that the
point lines up with the top center of the histogram so that there isn't any confusion about which
frequency the point represents. The points for Jessica are in blue, and the points for Sam are in
orange.
Then, place the points on the origin, or at 0,0 of the graph. This just shows the increase from nothing
to the first frequency on the histogram. I've placed the points side-by-side on this graph so that you
can see both points, but normally they would be directly on top of one another. You also need to
place a point at the end of the histogram on the x-axis. This, again, represents zero frequencies for
that side of the graph.

Graph showing point of origin and line connecting points with


histogram bars

Now, connect the points together. I've connected the orange points with orange lines so that I can
very clearly see that this frequency polygon represents Sam's students. I connected the blue points
with blue lines, so you can easily identify the frequency polygon that represents Jessica's students
as well. You can analyze your data like above, or you can see the data without using the histogram
bars, like this:
Frequency polygon without histogram bars

This is a little easier to see and understand. If you were analyzing the number of points each student
made, this would not be a good tool to use, since the farther distances get you more points.
However, if you are just looking at the frequency, you can see that the orange frequency polygon
has a higher distribution at the end with the greater distances. The blue frequency polygon has more
frequencies than the orange overall when it comes to distances at 60 yards or less. Therefore, you
could say that Jessica's students have more consistency at lower distances, and Sam's students
have less consistency but more arrows at the greater distances.

Lesson Summary
A frequency polygon is a line graph created by joining all of the top points of a histogram.
To create a frequency polygon, follow these steps:

1. Create a histogram
2. Find the midpoints for each bar on the histogram
3. Place a point on the origin and at the end of the histogram
4. Connect the points

Sam and Jessica could use a frequency polygon to analyze their student's bull's-eyes because they
were analyzing frequency at different distances and had the same number of arrows.
Remember, frequency polygons:

 Show the shape of a distribution of data


 Can be seen with or without the histogram bars
 Have end points that lie on the x-axis
 Can be used to compare two sets of data
 Are best for comparisons of data that have the same sample size
At the end of the day, Sam and Jessica didn't necessarily learn who had the best students. However,
they were able to use this data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their teams. So, as you
go through your day, think about it! Can you use statistics to make something in your life more
efficient? Absolutely!

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