Describing Data using Graphs and Tables:

Variable: A character which can be expressed numerically is called

'variable' or a 'variate'. For example, Height, Weight, Marks, Income,
Expenditure etc. The variables are usually denoted by X, Y, Z etc.
There are two types of variables.
a) Continuous variable: A variable which can take any numerical
value (fractional or whole number) within a certain range is
called continuous variable. E.g. Height, Weight, Temperature etc.
b) Discrete variable: A variable which can take only a discrete or
whole number is called discrete variable. E.g. No. of children,
No. of goals, Marks etc.
Frequency:The number of repitition of variate value is called frequency.
Frequency Distribution:
A table consisting of variable values and their corresponding
frequencies is known as frequency distribution.
Types of frequency distribution:
i) Individual series:
Individual series is a series where items are listed singly after
observations. For example,
Day: S M T W Th F Sat.
Temp. (OC): 32 30 36 29 27 31 30
ii) Discrete series:
The series formed from a discrete variable is known as discrete
series. It is also known as discrete frequency distribution. For example,

No. of accidents: 0 1 2 3 4 5
No. of days: 10 18 27 21 14 9

iii) Continuous series:

The series formed from continuous variable is known as continuous
series. It is also known as continuous frequency distribution. For
example,

Weight (in kg): 30-35 35-40 40-45 45-50 50-55 55-60

No. of persons: 23 34 45 32 28 12

Methods of forming class intervals:

a) Exclusive method b) Inclusive method
a) Exclusive method: In this method, class intervals are formed in such
a way that the upper limit of one class is equal to lower limit of
next class. For example,

Marks: 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50

No. of students: 11 15 23 17 8

b) Inclusive method: In this method, class intervals are formed in such

a way that the upper limit of one class is not equal to lower limit
of next class. For example,
Rainfall (in mm): 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59
No. of days: 12 7 10 4 2
Inclusive classes are changed into exclusive class by using correction
factor (Cf).
Cf = lower limit of any class – upper limit of preceding class
2
Then, real lower limit = lower limit - Cf
real upper limit = upper limit + Cf

General rules for classification:

i) The classes should be of equal size.
ii) The number of classes should lie between 5 and 15.
iii) As far as practicable, the class interval should be of size 5 or
multiple of 5. Avoid classes of size 3, 7, 11, 13 etc.

The size of the class interval can be obtained by the relation.

𝐋−𝐒
Class size, h =
𝐧
Where, L = Largest item, S = Smallest item
n = No. of classes to be formed
= 1 + 3.322 𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝟏𝟎 N (Sturge's rule)
N = No. of observations
iv) The lower limit of first class must be ‘0’ or ‘5’ or multiple of 5.
v) Classes must be mutually exclusive or non-overlapping.
vi) Exclusive method should be used to ensure continuity and get the
correct class-size.
vii) Class frequencies should be obtained by using tally marks or tally
bars (l)

Open–end classes:
A classification is called open-end if the lower limit of the first class or
upper limit of the last class is not specified.
For example,
Wages: Below 50 50-60 60-70 70-80 Above 80
No. of workers: 13 18 26 29 21

Cumulative frequency distribution:

i) Less than cumulative frequency distribution
ii) More than cumulative frequency distribution
i) Less than cumulative frequency distribution:
After arranging the classes or variate values in ascending order of
magnitude, the frequencies are cumulated from the top. Frequencies
are cumulated from the top. Frequencies thus cumulated are said to
be less than cumulative frequency and the distribution is said to
less than cumulative frequency distribution.

ii) More than cumulative frequency distribution:

After arranging the classes or variate values in ascending order of
magnitude, the frequencies are cumulated from the bottom.
Frequencies thus cumulated are said to be more than cumulative
frequency and the distribution is said to more than cumulative
frequency distribution.

Marks No. of Less than More than

Students, f c.f. c.f.
0-20 20 20 80+20=100
20-40 15 20+15=35 65+15=80
40-60 40 35+40=75 25+40=65
60-80 20 75+20=95 5+20=25
80-100 5 95+5=100 5
N = 100

Rule to convert mid. values into class intervals:

d = difference between any two consecutive mid. values
Then, lower limit = mid. value –
𝒅
𝟐
upper limit = mid. value +
𝒅
𝟐

Rule to find frequency of new class:

Frequency of new class
𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢 −𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭
= ×frequency of original class
𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬

Stem and leaf display:

Stem and leaf display is a method to organize statistical data. The
greatest common place value of the data used to form the stem. The
next greatest common place value is used to form the leaves.

Graph of frequency distribution:

i) Histogram ii) Frequency Polygon ()
iii) Frequency Curve ()
iv) Ogive or cumulative frequency curve
T.U. Questions:
1. Locate the mode by using histogram. [2010 #2 (2)]
Marks: 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50
No. of students: 5 12 20 16 12

2. Draw an ogive curve from the following distribution of profit and

find the first and third quartiles.
Profit (in Rs.) No. of shops
0-50 8
50-100 12
100-150 28
150-200 20
200-250 8
250-300 4 [2007, 2012 #2(2)]

3. Draw histogram and locate the mode from the following data of
wages. [2016, make up #1(2)]
Weekly wages (Rs.) No. of workers
100-150 7
150-200 19
200-250 27
250-300 16
300-350 12
350-400 9

Example 1: [Ex.- #1]

 Example 8: [Ex. #9]

Example 2: [Ex. #2] Example 9. [2007, 2012 #2(2)]

Following is he hypothetical data regarding the quantity (kg.) of cream Draw an ogive curve from the following distribution of profit and find
in a certain locality in a particular month collected by 64 families. the first and third quartiles.
Profit (in Rs.) No. of shops
0-50 8
50-100 12
100-150 28
With reference to this table, 150-200 20
a. construct a grouped frequency (having inclusive type of 200-250 8
class interval) using Sturge’s formula. 250-300 4

Example 3: [Ex. #12]

The weights of a fruit were recorded for a sample of 25. The data to
be the nearest grams are given.

Prepared by:
Uttam Bijukchhe
Associate Professor
Example 4: [2016, make up #1(2)]
Department of Statistics
Draw histogram and locate the mode from the following data of wages.
P. N. Campus, Pokhara
Weekly wages (Rs.) No. of workers
100-150 7
150-200 19
200-250 27
250-300 16
300-350 12
350-400 9
Example 5:

Example 6:
Construct a stem and leaf display for the following data.
1161, 1221, 1206, 1378, 1478, 1623, 1300, 1426, 1604, 1557, 1725,
1730, 1361, 1706

Example 7: [Ex. #8]

Draw less than and more than ogive for the following distribution

.
.