Chapter II : Frequency Distributions

and Graphs

STATISTICS
 Contents
• Organizing Data
• Histograms, Frequency Polygons, and Ogives
• Other Types of Graphs
• Paired Data and Scatter Plots
 Objectives:
• Organize data using a frequency distribution.
• Represent data in frequency distributions
graphically using histograms, frequency
polygons, and ogives.
• Represent data using bar graphs, Pareto charts,
time series graphs, and pie graphs.
• Draw and interpret a stem and leaf plot.
 Introduction
• This chapter will show how to organize data
and then construct appropriate graphs to
represent the data in a concise, easy-to-
understand form
 Topic 1: Organizing Data
Some basic definition
• When the data are in original form, they are
called raw data and are listed next.
Example:
49 57 38 73 81 74 59 76 65 69 54 56 69 68 78
65 85 49 69 61 48 81 68 37 43 78 82 43 64 67
52 56 81 77 79 85 40 85 59 80 60 71 57 61 69
61 83 90 87 74
 Organizing Data
• Each raw data value is placed into a quantitative or
qualitative category called a class.
• The frequency of a class then is the number of data
values contained in a specific class.
• A frequency distribution is the organization of raw
data in table form, using classes and frequencies.
• Two types of frequency distributions that are most
often used are the categorical frequency
distribution and the grouped frequency distribution.
 Organizing Data
Example
 Organizing Data
Categorical Frequency Distributions
• The categorical frequency distribution is used for
data that can be placed in specific categories,
such as nominal- or ordinal-level data.
For example, data such as political affiliation,
religious affiliation, or major field of study would
use categorical frequency distributions.
 Organizing Data
Example Distribution of Blood Types
• Twenty-five army inductees were given a blood
test to determine their blood type. The data set is:

A B B AB O O O B AB B B B O
A O A O O O AB AB A O B A
• Construct a frequency distribution for the data.
 Organizing Data
Since the data are categorical, discrete classes can
be used. There are four blood types: A, B, O, and
AB. These types will be used as the classes for the
distribution.
Step 1 Make a table as shown.
 Organizing Data
• Step 2 Tally the data and place the results in
column B.
• Step 3 Count the tallies and place the results in
column C.
• Step 4 Find the percentage of values in each class
by using the formula

where = frequency of the class and = total number of

values.
 Organizing Data
• Step 5 Find the totals for columns C (frequency)
and D (percent). The completed table is shown.
 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distributions
• When the range of the data is large, the data
must be grouped into classes that are more than
one unit in width, in what is called a grouped
frequency distribution.
For example, a distribution of the number of hours
that boat batteries lasted is the following.
 Organizing Data
Constructing a Grouped Frequency Distribution
Step 1 Determine the classes.
• Find the highest and lowest values.
• Find the range.
• Select the number of classes desired.
• Find the width by dividing the range by the number of
classes and rounding up.
• Select a starting point (usually the lowest value or any
convenient number less than the lowest value); add the
width to get the lower limits ( of next class).
• Find the upper class limits.
• Find the boundaries.
 Organizing Data
Step 2 Tally the data.
Step 3 find the cumulative frequencies.
Step 4 find midpoint
 Organizing Data
Example
• Record High Temperatures
These data represent the record high temperatures in
degrees Fahrenheit (F) for each of the 50 states.
Construct a grouped frequency distribution for the
data using 7 classes.
112 100 127 120 134 118 105 110 109 112
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
 Organizing Data
Step 1 Determine the classes.
• Find the highest value and lowest value: H = 134
and L = 100.
• Find the range: R = highest value - lowest value :
H - L, so R = 134 - 100 = 34
• Select the number of classes desired (usually
between 5 and 20). In this case, 7 is arbitrarily
chosen.
Find the class width by dividing the range by the
number of classes.
 Organizing Data
• Find the class width by dividing the range by the
number of classes and rounding up

• Select a starting point (usually the lowest value

or any convenient number less than the lowest
value); add the width to get the lower limits (of
next class).
Starting point = lowest value = 100
Lower limit (of next class)= 100 + 5
 Organizing Data
• Find the upper class limits.
Subtract one unit from the lower limit of the
second class to get the upper limit of the first
class. Then add the width to each upper limit to
get all the upper limits.
105 - 1 =104
The first class is 100–104, the second class is 105–
109, etc.
 Organizing Data
• Find the class boundaries by subtracting 0.5
from each lower class limit and adding 0.5 to
each upper class limit:
99.5–104.5, 104.5–109.5, etc.
 Organizing Data
• Step 2 Tally the data.
• Step 3 Find the numerical frequencies from the
tallies.
The completed frequency distribution is
 Organizing Data
Important rules
1. There should be between 5 and 20 classes.
2. It is preferable but not absolutely necessary
that the class width be an odd number.
3. The classes must be mutually exclusive.
4. The classes must be continuous.
5. The classes must be exhaustive. There should
be enough classes to accommodate all the data.
6. The classes must be equal in width. This avoids
a distorted view of the data.
 Organizing Data
Another type of distribution is used for numerical
data and when the range of data is small, as shown
in Example 2–3.
Since each class is only one unit, this distribution is
called an ungrouped frequency distribution.
Student read it
 Organizing Data
Applying the concepts
Read Applying the Concepts 2-1 page 45 (85 in pdf)
and answer questions.
1. Were the data obtained from a population or a
sample? Explain your answer.
2. What was the age of the oldest President?
3. What was the age of the youngest President?
4. Construct a frequency distribution for the data. (Use
your own judgment as to the number
of classes and class size.)
5. Are there any peaks in the distribution?
 Topic 2: Histograms, Frequency Polygons, and
Ogives
The role of Graphs
• The purpose of graphs in statistics is to convey
the data to the viewers in pictorial form.
• Statistical graphs can be used to describe the data
set or to analyze it. Graphs are also useful in
getting the audience’s attention in a publication
or a speaking presentation.
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
Three Most Common Graphs
• The histogram.
• The frequency polygon.
• The cumulative frequency graph, or ogive
(pronounced o-jive).
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
Histogram
• The histogram is a graph that displays the data
by using contiguous vertical bars (unless the
frequency of a class is 0) of various heights to
represent the frequencies of the classes.
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
Construct a histogram
• Construct a histogram to represent the data
shown for the record high temperatures for each
of the 50 states (see Example 2–2).
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives

• Step 1 Draw and label the x and y axes. The x

axis is always the horizontal axis, and the y axis
is always the vertical axis.
• Step 2 Represent the frequency on the y axis and
the class boundaries on the x axis.
• Step 3 Using the frequencies as the heights, draw
vertical bars for each class.
Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
The Frequency Polygon
• The frequency polygon is a graph that displays the data
by using lines that connect points plotted for the
frequencies at the midpoints of the classes. The
frequencies are represented by the heights of the points.
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
Construct Frequency Polygon
• Construct a Frequency polygon to represent the
data shown for the record high temperatures for
each of the 50 states (see Example 2–2).
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives

• Step 1 Find the midpoints of each class. Recall

that midpoints are found by adding the upper and
lower boundaries and dividing by 2:
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives

• Step 2 Draw the x and y axes. Label the x axis

with the midpoint of each class, and then use a
suitable scale on the y axis for the frequencies.
• Step 3 Using the midpoints for the x values and
the frequencies as the y values, plot the points.
• Step 4 Connect adjacent points with line
segments. Draw a line back to the x axis at the
beginning and end of the graph, at the same
distance that the previous and next midpoints
would be located.
Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
The Ogive
• The ogive is a graph that represents the
cumulative frequencies for the classes in a
frequency distribution.
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
Construct The Ogive
• Construct a The Ogive to represent the data
shown for the record high temperatures for each
of the 50 states (see Example 2–2).
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives

• Step 1 Find the cumulative frequency for each

class.
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives

• Step 2 Draw the x and y axes. Label the x axis

with the class boundaries. Use an appropriate
scale for the y axis to represent the cumulative
frequencies.
• Step 3 Plot the cumulative frequency at each
upper class boundary. Upper boundaries are used
since the cumulative frequencies represent the
number of data values accumulated up to the
upper boundary of each class.
Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives

• Step 4 Starting with the first upper class

boundary, 104.5, connect adjacent points with
line segments. Then extend the graph to the first
lower class boundary, 99.5, on the x axis.
Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives

• The steps for drawing these three types of

graphs are shown in the following Procedure
Table.
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
Relative Frequency Graphs
• Graphs of relative frequencies instead of
frequencies are used when the proportion of data
values that fall into a given class is more
important than the actual number of data values
that fall into that class.
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
Distribution Shapes
• When one is describing data, it is important to be
able to recognize the shapes of the distribution
values.
• A distribution can have many shapes, and one
method of analyzing a distribution is to draw a
histogram or frequency polygon for the distribution.
Several of the most common shapes: the bell-
shaped or mound-shaped, the uniform-shaped, the
J-shaped, the reverse J-shaped, the positively or
right-skewed shape, the negatively or left-skewed
shape, the bimodal-shaped, and the U-shaped.
 Histograms, Frequency Polygons,
and Ogives
Applying the concepts
Read Applying the Concepts 2-2 page 60 (100 in pdf) and answer
questions.
1. What questions could be answered more easily by looking at the
histogram rather than the listing of home prices?
2. What different questions could be answered more easily by looking
at the frequency polygon rather than the listing of home prices?
3. What different questions could be answered more easily by looking
at the cumulative frequency polygon rather than the listing of home
prices?
4. Are there any extremely large or extremely small data values
compared to the other data values?
5. Which graph displays these extremes the best?
6. Is the distribution skewed?
 Topic 3: Other Types of Graphs
Bar graph
When the data are qualitative
or categorical, bar graphs can
be used to represent the data.
• A bar graph can be drawn
using either horizontal or
vertical bars. A bar graph
represents the data by
using vertical or horizontal
bars whose heights or
lengths represent the
frequencies of the data.
 Other Types of Graphs
Construct bar graph
The table shows the average money spent by first-year
college students. Draw a horizontal and vertical bar
graph for the data.
Electronics $728
Dorm décor 344
Clothing 141
Shoes 72
 Other Types of Graphs
Solution
Step 1. Draw and label the x and y axes. For the
horizontal bar graph place the frequency scale on the x
axis, and for the vertical bar graph place the frequency
scale on the y axis.
Step 2. Draw the bars corresponding to the
frequencies.
Other Types of Graphs
 Other Types of Graphs
Pareto Charts
A Pareto chart is used to represent a frequency
distribution for a categorical variable, and the
frequencies are displayed by the heights of vertical
bars, which are arranged in order from highest to
lowest.
 Other Types of Graphs
Construct Pareto chart
The data shown here consist of the number of
homeless people for a sample of selected cities.
Construct and analyze a Pareto chart for the data.
City Number
Atlanta 6832
Baltimore 2904
Chicago 6680
St. Louis 1485
Washington 5518
 Other Types of Graphs
Solution
Step 1 Arrange the data from the largest to smallest
according to frequency.
City Number
Atlanta 6832
Chicago 6680
Washington 5518
Baltimore 2904
St. Louis 1485
Step 2 Draw and label the x and y axes.
Step 3 Draw the bars corresponding to the frequencies.
 Other Types of Graphs
Suggestions for Drawing
Pareto Charts
1. Make the bars the same
width.
2. Arrange the data from
largest to smallest
according to frequency.
3. Make the units that are
used for the frequency
equal in size.
 Other Types of Graphs
The Time Series Graph
When data are collected over a period of time, they
can be represented by a time series graph.
A time series graph represents data that occur over a
specific period of time.
 Other Types of Graphs
Construct The Time Series Graph
The number of homicides that occurred in the
workplace for the years 2003 to 2008 is shown.
Draw and analyze a time series graph for the data.

Year ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08

Number 632 559 567 540 628 517
 Other Types of Graphs
Solution
Step 1 Draw and label the x and y axes.
Step 2 Label the x axis for years and the y axis for the
number.
Step 3 Plot each point according to the table.
Step 4 Draw line segments connecting adjacent
points. Do not try to fit a smooth curve through the
data points.
Other Types of Graphs
 Other Types of Graphs
Compound Time Series Graph
 Other Types of Graphs
The Pie Graph
• Pie graphs are used extensively in statistics. The
purpose of the pie graph is to show the
relationship of the parts to the whole by visually
comparing the sizes of the sections. Percentages
or proportions can be used. The variable is
nominal or categorical.
• A pie graph is a circle that is divided into sections
or wedges according to the percentage of
frequencies in each category of the distribution.
 Other Types of Graphs
Construct Pie chart
This frequency distribution shows the number of
pounds of each snack food eaten during the Super
Bowl. Construct a pie graph for the data.
 Other Types of Graphs
Solution
Step 1 Since there are in a circle, the frequency for
each class must be converted into a proportional part
of the circle. This conversion is done by using the
formula

where f = frequency for each class and n = sum of the

frequencies. Hence, the following conversions are
obtained. The degrees should sum to
 Other Types of Graphs
Potato chips
Tortilla chips
Pretzels
Popcorn
Snack nuts

Total
 Other Types of Graphs
Step 2: Each frequency must also be converted to a
percentage. That this conversion is done by using the
formula

Hence, the following percentages are obtained. The

percentages should sum
to 100%.
 Other Types of Graphs
Potato chips
Tortilla chips
Pretzels
Popcorn
Snack nuts

Total
 Other Types of Graphs
Step 3: Next, using a protractor and a compass, draw
the graph using the appropriate degree measures found
in step 1, and label each section with the name and
Percentages:
 Other Types of Graphs
Misleading Graphs
Other Types of Graphs
 Other Types of Graphs
Stem and Leaf Plots
• A stem and leaf plot is a data plot that uses part of
the data value as the stem and part of the data
value as the leaf to form groups or classes.
• It has the advantage over a grouped frequency
distribution of retaining the actual data while
showing them in graphical form.
 Topic 4: Paired Data and Scatter Plots
Some definition
• Many times researchers are interested in
determining if a relationship between two
variables exist.
• To do this, the researcher collects data consisting
of two measures that are paired with another.
• The variable first mentioned is called the
independent variable; the second variable is the
dependent variable
 Paired Data and Scatter Plots
Example
 Paired Data and Scatter Plots
• A scatter plot is a graph of ordered pairs of data
values that is used to determine if a relationship
exists between the two variables.
• A scatter plot is a graph of the ordered pairs (x, y)
of numbers consisting of the independent variable
x and the dependent variable y.
• Typically, the independent variable is plotted on
the x-axis and the dependent variable is plotted on
the y-axis
 Paired Data and Scatter Plots
Construct Scatter plots
Car Rental Companies
• Construct a scatter plot for the data shown for car
rental companies in the United States for a recent
year.
 Paired Data and Scatter Plots
Solution
Step 1 Draw and label the x and y axes.
Step 2 Plot each point on the graph,
 Paired Data and Scatter Plots
Analyzing a Scatter Plot
• A positive linear relationship exits when the
points fall approximate in an ascending straight
line and bot x and y values increase at the same
time.
• A negative linear relationship exists when the
points fall approximate in a straight line
descending from left to right
 Paired Data and Scatter Plots

• A nonlinear relationship exists when the points

fall along curve
• No relationship exists when there is no
discernable pattern of the points
 Summary
• Histograms, frequency polygons, and ogives are
used when the data are contained in a grouped
frequency distribution.

• Pareto charts are used to show frequencies for

nominal variables

• Time series graphs are used to show a pattern or

trend that occurs over time
 Summary
• Pie graphs are used to show the relationship
between the parts and the whole

• When data are collected in pairs, the relationship,

if one exists, can be determined by looking at a
scatter plot
 Conclusion
• Data can be organized in some meaningful way
using frequency distributions. Once the
frequency distribution is constructed, the
representation of the data by graphs is simple
task