Frequency Distribution and Data: Types, Tables, and Graphs

Frequency distribution in statistics provides the information of the number of occurrences

Data

Any bit of information that is expressed in a value or numerical number is data. For example, the
marks you scored in your Math exam is data, and the number of cars that pass through a bridge
in a day is also data. Data is basically a collection of information, measurements or observations.

Raw data is an initial collection of information. This information has not yet been organized.
After the very first step of data collection, you will get raw data. For example, we go around and
ask a group of five friends their favourite colour. The answers are Blue, Green, Blue, Red, and
Red. This collection of information is the raw data.

Then there is discrete data and continuous data. Discrete data is that which is recorded in whole
numbers, like the number of children in a school or number of tigers in a zoo. It cannot be in
decimals or fractions. Continuous data need not be in whole numbers, it can be in decimals.
Examples are the temperature in a city for a week, your percentage of marks for the last exam
etc.

Frequency

The frequency of any value is the number of times that value appears in a data set. So from the
above examples of colours, we can say two children like the colour blue, so its frequency is two.
So to make meaning of the raw data, we must organize. And finding out the frequency of the
data values is how this organisation is done.
Frequency Distribution

Many times it is not easy or feasible to find the frequency of data from a very large dataset. So
to make sense of the data we make a frequency table and graphs. Let us take the example of the
heights of ten students in cms.

Frequency Distribution Table

139, 145, 150, 145, 136, 150, 152, 144, 138, 138

This frequency table will help us make better sense of the data given. Also when the data set is
too big (say if we were dealing with 100 students) we use tally marks for counting. It makes the
task more organised and easy. Below is an example of how we use tally marks.

Types of Frequency Distribution

 Grouped frequency distribution.

 Cumulative frequency distribution.

 Relative frequency distribution.

 Relative cumulative frequency distribution.

Frequency Distribution
This page discusses the concept of frequency distribution with several examples. Our study
on this topic consists of a study on cumulative frequency, mean frequency table. The
tabulation of the values with one or more variables is called frequency distribution. In other
words, it refers to the orderly arrangement of data, which is classified as per the magnitude of
the observations.
There are different types of frequency distributions.
1. Grouped frequency distribution
2. Ungrouped frequency distribution
3. Cumulative frequency distribution
4. Relative frequency distribution
5. Relative cumulative frequency distribution
To get a frequency distribution, we need to divide data into different classes of appropriate
size while indicating the number of observations in each class. Through frequency
distribution, it becomes a lot easier to summarize the data. That's why it's also defined as a
process of presenting the data in a summarized form. It's also called Frequency Table.
Uses of Frequency Distribution
 It is quite useful for data analysis.
 It assists in estimating the frequencies of the population on the basis of the ample.
 It facilitates the computation of different statistical measures.
Frequency Distribution Table
Frequency distribution table (also known as frequency table) consists of various components.
Classes: A large number of observations varying in a wide range are usually classified in
several groups according to the size of their values. Each of these groups is defined by an
interval called class interval. The class interval between 10 and 20 is defined as 10-20.
Class limits: The smallest and largest possible values in each class of a frequency
distribution table are known as class limits. For the class 10-20, the class limits are 10 and 20.
10 is called the lower class limit and 20 is called the upper class limit.
Class limit: Class limit is the midmost value of the class interval. It is also known as the mid
value. Mid value of each class = (lower limit + Upper limit)/2.
Magnitude of a class interval: The difference between the upper and lower limit of a class is
called the magnitude of a class interval.
Class frequency: The number of observation falling within a class interval is called class
frequency of that class interval.
Relative Frequency Distribution
It's a distribution where we mention relative frequencies against each class interval.. Relative
frequency of a class is the frequency obtained by dividing frequency by the total frequency.
Relative frequency is the proportion of the total frequency that is in any given class interval
in the frequency distribution.
Cumulative Frequency Distribution
One of the important types of frequency distribution is Cumulative frequency distribution. In
cumulative frequency distribution, the frequencies are shown in the cumulative manner. The
cumulative frequency for each class interval is the frequency for that class interval added to
the preceding cumulative total. Cumulative frequency can also defined as the sum of all
previous frequencies up to the current point.
Simple Frequency Distribution
Simple frequency distribution is used to organize the larger data sets in an orderly fashion.
When there are several cases to be studied, it's a good idea to list them separately, or else
there will be a lengthy list to use. . A simple frequency distribution shows the number of
times each score occurs in a set of data. To find the frequency for score count how many
times the score occurs.
Grouped Frequency Distribution
A grouped frequency distribution is an ordered listed of a variable X, into groups in one
column with a listing in a second column, which is called the frequency column. A grouped
frequency distribution is an arrangement class intervals and corresponding frequencies in a
table.
Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
A frequency distribution with an interval width of 1 is called ungrouped frequency
distribution. Ungrouped frequency distribution is an arrangement of the observed values in
ascending order. The ungrouped frequency distribution are those data, which are not arranged
in groups. They are known as individual series.
Mean of Frequency Distribution
Mean of frequency distribution can be found by multiplying each midpoint by its frequency,
and then dividing by the total number of values in the frequency distribution.
Mean = ∑=f×xn∑=f×xn
where, f = frequency in each class
n = sum of the frequencies.