Grouped Frequency
Distributions
and Graphs
A frequency distribution is the organization
of raw data in table from, using classes and
frequency.
The number of miles that the employees of a large
department store traveled to work each day
1 2 6 7 12 13 2 6 9 5
18 7 3 15 15 4 17 1 14 5
4 16 4 5 8 6 5 18 5 2
9 11 12 1 9 2 10 11 4 10
9 18 8 8 4 14 7 3 2 6
Class Limits
Frequency
(in miles)
1-3 10
4-6 14
7-9 10
10-12 6
13-15 5
16-18 Total 50 5
How to construct a grouped frequency
Distribution?
■ Number of classes
It should be between 5 and 20.
Some Statisticians use“ 2k “ rule.
k 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2k 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512 1,024
2 to k rule
Essentially we would look to construct k
classes for our frequency distribution, when
the value of 2k first exceeds the number of
observations in our sample. So, if we had a
sample with 39 observations, we would first
consider constructing 6 classes, because
26
= 64, the first power of 2 with a value larger
than the sample size of 39.
A guide, not a dictator.
Strictly speaking the 2k rule is a guide, not a
rule. If the 2k rule suggests you need 6
classes, also consider using 5 or 7 classes
... but certainly not 3 or 9.
❑Class interval or class
width HL
w
k
H : the highest value, L: the smallest value
❑Class interval can also be
estimated based on # of
observations HL
w
1 3.322 ln n
❑Select the lower limit of the first class
and set the limits of each class
It could be L or any value smaller than L.
It should be an even multiple of the class
interval.
❑There should be between 5 and 20
classes.
❑The classes must be continuous.
❑The classes must be exhaustive.
❑The classes must be mutually exclusive.
❑The classes must be equal in width.
Relative frequency
o Relative frequency of a class is the
frequency of that class divided by to total
number of frequency.
f
RF
n
■ Example
These data represent the record high
temperatures for each of the 50 states.
Construct a grouped frequency distribution
for the data using 7 classes.
112 100 127 120 134 118 105 110 109
110 118 117 116 118 122 114 114 105 109
107 112 114 115 118 117 118 122 106 110
116 108 110 121 113 120 119 111 104 111
120 113 120 117 105 110 118 112 114 114
Class Relative Cumulative
Class limits boundaries Frequency frequency frequency
100-104 99.5-104.5 2 0.04 2
105-109 104.5-109.5 8 0.16 10
110-114 109.5-114.5 18 0.36 28
115-119 114.5-119.5 13 0.26 41
120-124 119.5-124.5 7 0.14 48
125-129 124.5-129.5 1 0.02 49
130-134 129.5-134.5 1 0.02 50
Class Cumulative
boundaries Frequency Frequency
99.5-104.5 2 2
104.5-109.5 8 10
109.5-114.5 18 28
114.5-119.5 13 41
119.5-124.5 7 48
124.5-129.5 1 49
129.5-134.5 1 50
EXERCISES 1
The ages of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence of the Philippines are shown
below.
41 54 47 40 39 35 50 37 49 42 70 32
44 52 39 50 40 30 34 69 39 45 33 42
44 63 60 27 42 34 50 42 52 38 36 45
35 43 48 46 31 27 55 63 46 33 60 62
35 46 45 34 53 50 50
EXERCISES 2 (Cont.)
Construct a frequency distribution using
seven classes. Include relative frequency,
percentage and Cumulative frequency.
