BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

MMW 101
MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Module 13
Organizing Data
“Statistics: Our Life Saver
and Influencer”
 Organizing Data

Objectives of the Module

At the end of the module, you are expected to:
1. differentiate ungrouped data from grouped data
2. organize ungrouped data using an array, a stem-leaf plot, or a frequency
distribution table
3. construct a frequency distribution table for grouped data correctly
4. calculate the relative frequencies, cumulative frequencies, and cumulative
percentage frequencies of a given data set
5. interpret the values found in the frequency distribution table

You have learned the different ways on how to gather data and the sampling
techniques from which you can choose the one that you will employ in your research.
Now is the time for you to know what to do with the data that you have gathered. It is
essential to organize your data so that you can easily interpret them.

Data may be ungrouped or grouped. Ungrouped data are unsorted or raw data.
This means that the data have not been grouped or classified according to any
characteristic. On the other hand, grouped data are data that have been organized
or grouped.

Ways of Organizing Ungrouped Data

These are the ways of organizing ungrouped data.

1. By forming an array
An array is an arrangement of numbers in increasing or decreasing
order.

2. By constructing a stem-leaf plot

A stem-leaf plot is a way of organizing data where the data is split into
two parts: the stem is consists of the hundreds or tens digit while the
leaves are the unit digits.

3. By constructing a frequency distribution table

An ungrouped frequency distribution table is a table showing the data
and its frequency.

The three ways of organizing a set of ungrouped data are shown using the
example below.

The following are the ages of 25 employees in a supermarket.

42, 51, 44, 28, 32, 24, 30, 25, 24, 35, 43, 37, 28,

28, 22, 45, 29, 28, 36, 35, 50, 25, 25, 46, 44

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 You can organize the data in the following ways:

Array: (from youngest to eldest)

22, 24, 24, 25, 25, 25, 28, 28, 28, 28, 29, 30, 32,
35, 35, 36, 37, 42, 43, 44, 44, 45, 46, 50, 51

Stem-leaf Plot: (Assuming that we did not form an array, let us refer to the original
data.)

42, 51, 44, 28, 32, 24, 30, 25, 24, 35, 43, 37, 28,
28, 22, 45, 29, 28, 36, 35, 50, 25, 25, 46, 44

In the first value, 42, the digit 4 is the stem, and the digit 2 is the leaf. In the
second value, 51, the digit 5 is the stem, and the digit 1 is the leaf. Continue plotting
all the ages of the employees. After all the ages have been plotted, make another table
and arrange the leaves in increasing order.

Draft: (as the data is given) Final: (after arranging the leaves from
The lowest to the highest)

STEMS LEAVES STEMS LEAVES

2 8, 4,5, 4, 8, 8, 2, 9, 8, 5, 5 2 2, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9
3 2,0, 5, 7,6, 5, 3 0, 2, 5, 5, 6, 7
4 2, 4, 3,5, 4, 4 4 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6
5 1, 0 5 1, 0

Ungrouped frequency distribution table

Table No. 1
Ages of 25 Employees in a Supermarket
Ages Frequency
22 1
24 2
25 3
28 4
29 1
30 1
32 1
35 2
36 1
37 1
42 1
43 1 Note: You may first form
44 2 an array or a stem-leaf
45 1 plot so that it would be
46 1 easier to construct the
50 1 frequency distribution
51 1 table.
25
2
Interpretation of the data may be made in this way.

The table shows that of the twenty-five employees of the supermarket, the
youngest is twenty-two years old while the oldest is fifty-one years old. Most of the
employees are in their twenties, six are in their thirties and their forties, and only two
are in their fifties.

Frequency Distribution for Grouped Data

Let us now learn how to organize grouped data. A frequency distribution table
is used to organize this kind of data. The data are sorted into groups or classes. The
frequency distribution table shows the number of occurrences of the data in the
different classes.

Example of a frequency distribution table:

Table No 2
Scores of a Sample of 40 Students in a Biology Test

Class Number Class

Class
Intervals of Boundaries
Marks
(Scores) Students Always write the table
(𝑋𝑖 )
LL-UL (f) LB - UB number and the table title so
17-21 2 16.5 - 21.5 19 that the reader would know
22-26 5 21.5 - 26.5 24 what the data is about. The
27-31 8 26.5 – 31.5 29
class size and the total
32-36 12 31.5 – 36.5 34
number of frequencies must
37-41 7 36.5 – 41.5 39
also be written after the last
42-46 5 41.5 – 46.5 44
class interval.
47-51 1 46.5 – 51.5 49
c=5 n=40

You have to remember the definition of the following terms that are found in
the frequency distribution table:

Class interval refers to the grouping bounded by the lower limit (LL) and upper limit
(UL).
Class size (c) is the length or width of the class.
Class frequency (f) is the number of observations falling within a class interval.
Class boundaries refer to the true boundaries (true limits) of a class interval

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 Class
Intervals In this example, 17-21 is the first class
(Scores) interval where 17 is the lower limit and 21 is
17-21 the upper limit. The lower limit of the first
17+5 22-26 21+5 class interval is usually the lowest value in
22+5 27-31 26+5 the data. The upper limit 21 was obtained by
27+5 32-36 31+5 counting 5 units (since c=5) starting from the
32+5 37-41 36+5 lower limit 17 (17, 18, 19, 20, 21). To get the
37+5 42-46 41+5 succeeding lower limits, just add 5 which is
42+5 47-51 46+5 the class size. Do the same for the upper
c=5 limits.

Class Number Class The table shows that there were 2

Intervals of Boundaries students who scored between 17 and
(Scores) Students (LCB – 21 while 5 students got scores between
(f) UCB) 22 and 26.
17-21 2 16.5 - 21.5 *
The lower class boundaries are
22-26 5 21.5 - 26.5
obtained by subtracting 0.5 from the
*17- lower limits. The upper class
0.5=16.5 boundaries are obtained by adding 0.5
to the upper limits.
*21+0.5=21.
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Class mark or class midpoint refers to the representative of the class interval.

𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡+𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡 17+21

Class mark = = = 19
2 2

Note: If the class size is an odd number,

the class mark is the middle value (17, 18, 19,
Class Number 20, 21). If the class size is an even number, the
Intervals of Class Mark class mark is the average of the two middle
values. For example, for a class interval of 5-10,
(Scores) Students 𝑋𝑖 the class mark is (7+8)/2 which is 7.5.
(f)
17-21 2 19 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
22-26 5 24 Another way to get the succeeding class
marks: After getting the class mark of the first
class interval, just add to it the valueofc. For
example, 19 + 5 = 24 (the class mark of the 2nd
class) and so on.

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Constructing a Frequency Distribution Table

You have to follow the steps to construct a frequency distribution table. To show
you these steps, let us consider the test scores of 50 students in Statistics recorded
as follows:
Table 1
Test Score of 50 Students in Statistics
48 39 55 65 51
79 63 89 29 54
65 58 64 76 90
30 84 50 55 59
69 43 79 44 40
49 50 24 78 71
63 64 73 35 65
58 36 47 86 46
85 74 64 72 54
38 52 33 53 42

Step 1: Determine the Range (R) of the distribution. The range is equal to the
highest score minus the lowest score.

Range (R) = Highest Score - Lowest Score Formula 2

R = 90 - 24
R = 66

Step 2: Determine the class size by dividing the range by the desired number of
classes. (The number of classes must not be too few nor too many. Too many
class intervals may result in classes with zero frequencies.) Let us have ten
classes on this problem. In some cases, the class size is already given.

𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
Class size or class width( c ) = numbe𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 (if the class size is not
(Formula 3) exact, round it off to the
66 nearest whole number)
c= = 6.6 ≈ 7
10

Step 3: Unless otherwise specified, always start the lowest class limit by the lowest
value of the given data (raw data). For the second lower limit, just add the
class size and then continue to add the class size to this lower limit to get the
rest of the lower limits. To get the first upper limit, subtract one (1) from the
second lower limit. For the second upper limit, just add the class size continue
to add the class size to this upper limit to get the rest of the upper limits.

Note: The last class interval should contain the highest value.
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 Constructing the Class Limits Resulting Class Limits/Class
Intervals
LL - UL

Lower Limits (LL) Upper Limits (UL) Class

Intervals

2nd lower limit

lowest score 24 minus 1 30 24 - 30
(31 - 1)
LL + class size UL + class size
24 + 7 = (2nd lower 30 + 7 31 - 37
31 37
limit)
10
31 + 7 38 37 + 7 44 38 - 44
38 + 7 45 44 + 7 51 45 - 51 classes
45 + 7 52 51 + 7 58 52 - 58
52 + 7 59 58 + 7 65 59 - 65
59 + 7 66 65 + 7 72 66 - 72
66 + 7 73 72 + 7 79 73 - 79
73 + 7 80 79 + 7 86 80 - 86
80 + 7 87 87 + 7 93 87 - 93

Step 4: Determine the class boundaries by subtracting 0.5 from each of the lower
class limits and adding 0.5 to each of the upper class limits.

Constructing the Class Boundaries Resulting Class Boundaries

Lower Upper
Boundarie Boundarie Class Boundaries
Lower Limit s Upper Limit s LB - UB
- 0.5 (LB) + 0.5 (UB)
24 - 0.5 23.5 30 + 0.5 30.5 23.5 – 30.5
31 - 0.5 30.5 37 + 0.5 37.5 30.5 – 37.5
38 - 0.5 37.5 44 + 0.5 44.5 37.5 – 44.5
45 - 0.5 44.5 51 + 0.5 51.5 44.5 – 51.5
52 - 0.5 51.5 58 + 0.5 58.5 51.5 – 58.5
59 - 0.5 58.5 65 + 0.5 65.5 58.5 – 65.5
66 - 0.5 65.5 72 + 0.5 72.5 65.5 – 72.5
73 - 0.5 72.5 79 + 0.5 79.5 72.5 – 79.5
80 - 0.5 79.5 86 + 0.5 86.5 79.5 – 86.5
87 - 0.5 86.5 93 + 0.5 93.5 86.5 – 93.5

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Step 5: Calculate the class marks or class midpoints. It is the numerical location
of the center of the class and is computed as follows:

𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡(𝐿𝐿)+ 𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑡 (𝑈𝐿)

Class mark or class midpoint(Xi ) = Formula 4
2

Class Class
LL + UL LL + UL
2 Midpoint Midpoint
2
Xi Xi
24 + 30 24 + 30
27 27
2 2
shortcut: 1st midpoint +
31 + 37
34 class size 34
2
27 + 7
38 + 44
41 34 + 7 41
2
45 + 51
48 OR 41 + 7 48
2
52 + 58
55 48 + 7 55
2
59 + 65
62 55 + 7 62
2
66 + 72
69 62 + 7 69
2
73 + 79
76 69 + 7 76
2
80 + 86
83 76 + 7 83
2
87 + 93
90 83 + 7 90
2

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Step 6: Tally the data. Write the numerical equivalent of the tally on the column for
frequency. The best example of tallying the scores is counting the votes cast
in an election.

From table 1

Class Tally
Intervals (Test Scores)
LL- UL Tally f
First 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Column Column Column Column Column
l l l
24 - 30 III 3
(30) (24) (29)
l l l
31 - 37 III 3
(36) (33) (35)
lI II
l l
38 - 44 (39),(43 (40), IIII-I 6
(38) (44)
) (42)
ll II
lI l
45 - 51 (50),(47 (51), IIII-II 7
(48),(49) (50)
) (46)
ll II II
l l
52 - 58 (52),(58 (55), (54), IIII-III 8
(58) (55)
) (53) (54)
lI lI II
ll I IIII-
59–65 (63),(64 (64),(64 (59), 9
(65, 63) (65) IIII
) ) (65)
l l I
66 - 72 III 3
(69) (72) (71)
lI Il
l I
73 - 79 (79),(73 (76), IIII-I 6
(79) (74)
) (78)
l I I
80 - 86 III 3
(85) (84) (86)
I I
87 - 93 ll 2
(89) (90)

Applying the steps, table 2 shows how the frequency distribution table looks like.

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 Table No. 2
Frequency Distribution of the 50 Test Scores in Statistics
Class Class Class
Frequency
Intervals Boundaries Marks
f
LL - UL LB – UB Xi
24 - 30 23.5 - 30.5 27 3
31 – 37 30.5 - 37.5 34 3
38 – 44 37.5 - 44.5 41 6
45 – 51 44.5 - 51.5 48 7
52 – 58 51.5 - 58.5 55 8
59 – 65 58.5 - 65.5 62 9
66 – 72 65.5 - 72.5 69 3
73 – 79 72.5 - 79.5 76 6
80 – 86 79.5 - 86.5 83 3
87 - 93 86.5 - 93.5 90 2
c=7 n = 50

Now let us continue with the cumulative frequency distribution.

Cumulative Frequency Distribution

A cumulative frequency distribution can be constructed from a frequency

distribution by adding a column called "Cumulative Frequency." A cumulative
frequency refers to subtotals obtained from the successive additions of the
frequencies. This may be done in two ways:

1. The less than cumulative frequencies (<cf) refer to the frequencies

added successively from the lowest class interval to the highest class interval.

2. The greater than cumulative frequencies (>cf) refer to the frequencies

added successively from the highest class interval to the lowest class interval.

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Illustration 1
(Data from Test Scores of 50 Students in Statistics)

Resulting "Less
Successive addition of Successive addition of than" and
frequencies from top to frequencies from "Greater than"
bottom bottom to top Cumulative
Frequencies
Greater Cumulative
Less Than Frequency
Frequenc than
Cumulative Frequency
y Cumulative f
Frequency f <cf >cf
f Frequency
(<cf)
(>cf)
3 3 3 47 + 3 50 3 3 50
3 3+3 6 3 44 + 3 47 3 6 47
6 6+6 12 6 38 + 6 44 6 12 44
7 12 + 7 19 7 31 + 7 38 7 19 38
8 19 + 8 27 8 23 + 8 31 8 27 31
9 27 + 9 36 9 15 + 9 23 9 36 23
3 36 + 3 39 3 11 + 3 14 3 39 14
6 39 + 6 45 6 5 + 6 11 6 45 11
3 45 + 3 48 3 2+3 5 3 48 5
2 48 + 2 50 2 2 2 50 2
n=5
n = 50 n = 50
0

Then let us proceed to make the table on cumulative percentage frequency.

Cumulative Percentage Frequency

Cumulative percentage frequency is another column in the frequency

distribution. It is obtained by dividing the cumulative frequency by the total number of
cases (n) then multiplying by 100. It shows the percentage of students falling below
or above (<cpf or >cpf) individual scores. The formula is:

Cumulative Percentage Frequency (cpf) cf x 100

=

𝑐𝑓 Formula 5
Cumulative Percentage Frequency (cpf) = 𝑥 100
𝑛

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This is how to use the formula.
Illustration 2

Cumulative Percentage
Frequency Cumulative Frequency
Frequency
f
<cf >cf <cpf >cpf
3 50
3 3 50 𝑥100 = 6 𝑥100 = 100
50 50
6 48
3 6 48 𝑥100 = 12 𝑥100 = 96
50 50

Now our table looks like this with the addition of the column on cumulative
percentage frequency.

Table 3
Cumulative Percentage Distribution of 50 Test Scores in Statistics

Cumulative
Class Class Cumulative
Frequency Percentage
Intervals Boundaries Frequency
f Frequency
LL - UL LB – UB
<cf >cf <cpf >cpf
24 - 30 23.5 - 30.5 3 3 50 6 100
31 – 37 30.5 - 37.5 3 6 48 12 94
38 – 44 37.5 - 44.5 6 12 44 24 88
45 – 51 44.5 - 51.5 7 19 38 38 76
52 – 58 51.5 - 58.5 8 27 31 54 62
59 – 65 58.5 - 65.5 9 36 23 72 46
66 – 72 65.5 - 72.5 3 39 14 78 28
73 – 79 72.5 - 79.5 6 45 11 90 22
80 – 86 79.5 - 86.5 3 48 5 96 10
87 - 93 86.5 - 93.5 2 50 2 100 4
c=7 n= 50

This is how to interpret the cumulative frequency and the cumulative

percentage frequency.

Remember: Use the upper class boundaries in interpreting the <cf and
the <cpf. (lower than the upper class boundaries)
Use the lower class boundaries in interpreting the >cf and the
>cpf. (higher than the lower class boundaries)

The following is an example of an interpretation for the scores of the 50 students in

Statistics.

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(For less than cumulative frequency and less than cumulative percentage frequency,
use the numbers colored yellow in the table.)

As seen in table 3, of the 50 students who took the test in Statistics, three
(3) students scored lower than 30.5 while six (6) students scored lower than 37.5.
Twenty-seven (27) or more than half of them, scored lower than 58.5. Moreover,
24% of the students scored lower than 44.5, while 78% scored lower than 72.5.

(For greater than cumulative frequency and greater than cumulative percentage
frequency, use the numbers colored green in the table.)

Of the 50 students who took the test in Statistics, thirty-eight (38)

students got scores higher than 44.5, while only two (2) students got scores
higher than 86.5. On the other hand, 62% of them scored higher than 51.5, while
only 10% got higher than 79.5.

Let us add one more column, this time on relative frequency.

Relative Frequency Distribution

A relative frequency distribution can be created from a frequency distribution by

adding a column called "Relative Frequency." A relative frequency is the ratio of the
individual frequency per class to the total number of cases (n) then multiplied by 100%.
The formula is:
𝑓
Relative Frequency (rf) = 𝑛 𝑥 100%
Formula 6

Resulting
Relative Frequency
Illustration No.3 Distribution of 50 Test
Scores in Statistics
Relative Relative
Frequency Frequency
Frequency Frequency
f f
(rf) (rf)
3 3 6
𝑥100% 6 3
50
3 3 6
𝑥100% 6 3
50

6 6 12
𝑥100% 12 6
50
7 14
8 16
9 18
3 6
6 12
3 6
2 4
n = 50 100%
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Table 4 shows the addition of the column on Relative Frequency (RF).

Table 4
Cumulative Percentage and Relative Frequency Distribution of 50 Test Scores
in Statistics

Cumulative
Class Class Cumulative
Percentage Relative
Frequency
Intervals Boundaries Frequency Frequency
f Frequency
LL – UL LB - UB <cf >cf <cpf >cpf
(RF)

24 – 30 23.5 - 30.5 3 3 50 6 100 6

31 – 37 30.5 - 37.5 3 6 48 12 94 6
38 – 44 37.5 - 44.5 6 12 44 24 88 12
45 – 51 44.5 - 51.5 7 19 38 38 76 14
52 – 58 51.5 - 58.5 8 27 31 54 62 16
59 – 65 58.5 - 65.5 9 36 23 72 46 18
66 – 72 65.5 - 72.5 3 39 14 78 28 6
73 – 79 72.5 - 79.5 6 45 11 90 22 12
80 – 86 79.5 - 86.5 3 48 5 96 10 6
87 – 93 86.5 - 93.5 2 50 2 100 4 4
c=7 n = 50 100%

This is how to interpret relative frequency.

As shown in the following example, of the fifty (50) students who took the
test in statistics, 6% got scores between 24 and 30, and another 6% scored
between 31 and 37. Most of the students, or 18%, scored between 59 and 65
while 16% got scores between 52 and 58.

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