Organizing

Data

2
Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
Section Frequency Distributions,
2.1 Histograms, and
Related Topics

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Focus Points
• Organize raw data using a frequency table.

• Construct histograms, relative-frequency

histograms, and ogives.

• Recognize basic distribution shapes: uniform,

symmetric, skewed, and bimodal.

• Interpret graphs in the context of the data

setting.
3
Frequency Tables

4
Frequency Tables
When we have a large set of quantitative data, it’s useful to
organize it into smaller intervals or classes and count how
many data values fall into each class. A frequency table
does just that.

5
Example 1 – Frequency table
A task force to encourage car pooling did a study of
one-way commuting distances of workers in the downtown
Dallas area. A random sample of 60 of these workers was
taken. The commuting distances of the workers in the
sample are given in Table 2-1. Make a frequency table for
these data.

One-Way Commuting Distances (in Miles) for 60 Workers in Downtown Dallas

Table 2-1
6
Example 1 – Solution
a. First decide how many classes you want. Five to
15 classes are usually used. If you use fewer than five
classes, you risk losing too much information. If you use
more than 15 classes, the data may not be sufficiently
summarized.

Let the spread of the data and the purpose of the

frequency table be your guides when selecting the
number of classes. In the case of the commuting data,
let’s use six classes.

b. Next, find the class width for the six classes.

7
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Procedure:

8
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

To find the class width for the commuting data, we observe

that the largest distance commuted is 47 miles and the
smallest is 1 mile. Using six classes, the class width is 8,
since

Class width = (increase to 8)

c. Now we determine the data range for each class.

9
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

The smallest commuting distance in our sample is 1 mile.

We use this smallest data value as the lower class limit of
the first class.

Since the class width is 8, we add 8 to 1 to find that the

lower class limit for the second class is 9.

Following this pattern, we establish all the lower class

limits.

Then we fill in the upper class limits so that the classes

span the entire range of data.
10
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Table 2-2, shows the upper and lower class limits for the
commuting distance data.

Frequency Table of One-Way Commuting Distances for 60

Downtown Dallas Workers (Data in Miles)

Table 2-2

11
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

d. Now we are ready to tally the commuting distance data

into the six classes and find the frequency for each
class.

Procedure:

12
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Table 2-2 shows the tally and frequency of each class.

e. The center of each class is called the midpoint (or class

mark). The midpoint is often used as a representative
value of the entire class. The midpoint is found by
adding the lower and upper class limits of one class
and dividing by 2.

Table 2-2 shows the class midpoints.

13
Example 1 – Solution cont’d

f. There is a space between the upper limit of one class

and the lower limit of the next class. The halfway points
of these intervals are called class boundaries. These are
shown in Table 2-2.

Procedure:

14
Frequency Tables
Basic frequency tables show how many data values fall into
each class. It’s also useful to know the relative frequency of
a class. The relative frequency of a class is the proportion
of all data values that fall into that class. To find the relative
frequency of a particular class, divide the class frequency f
by the total of all frequencies n (sample size).

Relative Frequencies of One-Way Commuting Distances

Table 2-3
15
Frequency Tables

Table 2-3 shows the relative frequencies for the commuter

data of Table 2-1.

One-Way Commuting Distances (in Miles) for 60 Workers in Downtown Dallas

Table 2-1
16
Frequency Tables
Since we already have the frequency table (Table 2-2), the
relative-frequency table is obtained easily.

Frequency Table of One-Way Commuting Distances for 60

Downtown Dallas Workers (Data in Miles)

Table 2-2

17
Frequency Tables
The sample size is n = 60. Notice that the sample size is
the total of all the frequencies. Therefore, the relative
frequency for the first class (the class from 1 to 8) is

The symbol  means “approximately equal to.” We use the

symbol because we rounded the relative frequency.
Relative frequencies for the other classes are computed in
a similar way.

18
Frequency Tables
The total of the relative frequencies should be 1.

However, rounded results may make the total slightly

higher or lower than 1.

19
Frequency Tables
Procedure:

20
Frequency Tables
Procedure:

21
Histograms and Relative-Frequency
Histograms

22
Histograms and Relative-Frequency Histograms

Histograms and relative-frequency histograms provide

effective visual displays of data organized into frequency
tables. In these graphs, we use bars to represent each
class, where the width of the bar is the class width.

For histograms, the height of the bar is the class frequency,

whereas for relative-frequency histograms, the height of the
bar is the relative frequency of that class.

23
Histograms and Relative-Frequency Histograms

Procedure:

24
Example 2 – Histogram and Relative-Frequency Histogram

Make a histogram and a relative-frequency histogram with

six bars for the data in Table 2-1 showing one-way
commuting distances.

One-Way Commuting Distances (in Miles) for 60 Workers in Downtown Dallas

Table 2-1

25
Example 2 – Solution
The first step is to make a frequency table and a
relative-frequency table with six classes. We’ll use
Table 2-2 and Table 2-3.

Frequency Table of One-Way Commuting Distances for 60 Downtown Dallas Workers

(Data in Miles)
Table 2-2

26
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

Relative Frequencies of One-Way Commuting Distances

Table 2-3

27
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

Figures 2-2 and 2-3 show the histogram and

relative-frequency histogram. In both graphs, class
boundaries are marked on the horizontal axis.

Histogram for Dallas Commuters: Relative-Frequency Histogram for Dallas

One-Way Commuting Distances Commuters: One-Way Commuting Distances

Figure 2-2 Figure 2-3

28
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

For each class of the frequency table, make a

corresponding bar with horizontal width extending from the
lower boundary to the upper boundary of the respective
class.

For a histogram, the height of each bar is the

corresponding class frequency.

For a relative-frequency histogram, the height of each bar

is the corresponding relative frequency.

29
Example 2 – Solution cont’d

Notice that the basic shapes of the graphs are the same.
The only difference involves the vertical axis.

The vertical axis of the histogram shows frequencies,

whereas that of the relative-frequency histogram shows
relative frequencies.

30
Distribution Shapes

31
Distribution Shapes
Histograms are valuable and useful tools. If the raw data
came from a random sample of population values, the
histogram constructed from the sample values should have
a distribution shape that is reasonably similar to that of the
population.

Several terms are commonly used to describe histograms

and their associated population distributions.

32
Distribution Shapes

33
Distribution Shapes

Types of Histograms
Figure 2-8

34
Cumulative-Frequency Tables and Ogives

35
Cumulative-Frequency Tables and Ogives

Sometimes we want to study cumulative totals instead of

frequencies. Cumulative frequencies tell us how many data
values are smaller than an upper class boundary.

Once we have a frequency table, it is a fairly

straightforward matter to add a column of cumulative
frequencies.

36
Cumulative-Frequency Tables and Ogives

An ogive (pronounced “oh-ji ve”) is a graph that displays

cumulative frequencies.

Procedure:

37
Example 3 – Cumulative-Frequency Table and Ogive

Aspen, Colorado, is a world-famous ski area. If the daily

high temperature is above 40F, the surface of the snow
tends to melt. It then freezes again at night.

This can result in a snow crust that is icy. It also can

increase avalanche danger.

38
Example 3 – Cumulative-Frequency Table and Ogive
cont’d

Table 2-11 gives a summary of daily high temperatures (F)

in Aspen during the 151-day ski season.

High Temperatures During the Aspen Ski Season (F)

Table 2-11

39
Example 3 – Cumulative-Frequency Table and Ogive
cont’d

a. The cumulative frequency for a class is computed by

adding the frequency of that class to the frequencies of
previous classes. Table 2-11 shows the cumulative
frequencies.

b. To draw the corresponding ogive, we place a dot at

cumulative frequency 0 on the lower class boundary of
the first class. Then we place dots over the upper class
boundaries at the height of the cumulative class
frequency for the corresponding class.

40
Example 3 – Cumulative-Frequency Table and Ogive
cont’d

Finally, we connect the dots. Figure 2-9 shows the

corresponding ogive.

Ogive for Daily High Temperatures (F) During Aspen Ski Season
Figure 2.9

41
Example 3 – Cumulative-Frequency Table and Ogive
cont’d

c. Looking at the ogive, estimate the total number of days

with a high temperature lower than or equal to 40F.

Solution:
The red lines on the ogive in Figure 2-9, we see that
117 days have had high temperatures of no more
than 40F.

42