Frequency DISTRIBUTION

Instructor: Dr. Irum Naqvi

 After collecting data, the first task for a
researcher is to organize and simplify the
data so that it is possible to get a general
overview of the results.

This is the goal of descriptive statistical

techniques.
 One method for simplifying and organizing
data is to construct a frequency
distribution.
A frequency distribution is an organized
tabulation showing exactly how many
individuals are located in each category on
the scale of measurement.
A frequency distribution presents an
organized picture of the entire set of
scores, and it shows where each individual
is located relative to others in the
distribution.
Interpreting frequency distributions

Central Location
 Gravitational center  mean
 Middle value  median
Spread
 Range and inter-quartile range
 Standard deviation and variance (next
week)
Shape
 Symmetry
 Modality
 Kurtosis
Frequency Distribution
Table
A frequency distribution table consists of at
least two columns - one listing categories
on the scale of measurement (X) and
another for Frequency (f).
In the X column, values are listed from the
highest to lowest, without skipping any.
For the frequency column, tallies are
determined for each value (how often each
X value occurs in the data set). These
tallies are the frequencies for each X value
The sum of the frequencies should equal N.
Calculate ∑X from Table

X f ∑fX Calculate
∑X
5 1 5
∑fX
4 2 8
3 3 9 ∑X2
2 3 6
1 1 1
Frequency Distribution Tables
A third column can be used for the
proportion (p) for each category: p = f/N.
The sum of the p column should equal
1.00.
 A fourth column can display the
percentage of the distribution
corresponding to each X value. The
percentage is found by multiplying p by
100.
P(% )= (f/N)100
The sum of the percentage column is
X f p= P(% )=
f/N (f/N)100

5 1
4 2
3 3
2 3
1 1
X f p= P(% )=
f/N (f/N)100

5 1 .10 10
4 2 .20 20
3 3 .30 30
2 3 .30 30
1 1 .10 10
Regular Frequency
Distribution

 When a frequency distribution table lists

all of the individual categories (X values) it
is called a regular frequency distribution.
Grouped Frequency
Distribution
• Sometimes, however, a set of scores
covers a wide range of values. In these
situations, a list of all the X values would be
quite long - too long to be a “simple”
presentation of the data.
 To remedy this situation, a grouped
frequency distribution table is used.
In a grouped table, the X column lists
groups of scores, called class intervals,
rather than individual values.
These intervals all have the same width,
usually a simple number such as 2, 5, 10,
and so on.
• Each interval begins with a value that is a
Procedure Constructing a Grouped
Frequency Distribution

Step 1 Determine the classes. Find the

highest and lowest value. 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. Find the upper class limits.
Find the boundaries.
Step 2 Tally the data.
Step 3 Find the numerical frequencies from
the tallies.
Example: Leaves
Alex measured the lengths of leaves on the
oak tree (to the nearest cm):
9,16,13,7,8,4,18,10,17,18,9,12,5,9,9,16,1,8,
17,1,
10,5,9,11,15,6,14,9,1,12,5,16,4,16,8,15,14,1
7
Lets group them: To get started, put the
numbers in order, then find
the smallest and largest values in your
data, and
Calculate the range (range = largest -
smallest).
In order the lengths are:
1,1,1,4,4,5,5,5,6,7,8,8,8,9,9,9,9,9,9,10,10,11,
12,12,
13,14,14,15,15,16,16,16,16,17,17,17,18,18
The smallest value (the "minimum") is 1
cm
The largest value (the "maximum") is 18
cm
The range is 18−1 = 17 cm
Group Size
Now calculate an approximate group size,
by dividing the range by how many groups
Let us say we want about 5 groups.
Divide the range by 5:
17/5 = 3.4 . Then round that up to 4
Start Value
Pick a starting value that is less than or
equal to the smallest value. Try to make it a
multiple of the group size if you can. In our
case 0 value make a sense.
Groups
Now calculate the list of groups. (We must
go up to or past the largest value).
Starting at 0 and with a group size of 4 we
get: 0, 4, 8, 12, 16
Write down the groups.
Include the end value of each group that
must be less than the next group:
Now Calculate please
Length (cm) Frequency
0-3 3
4-7 7
8-11 12
12-15 7
16-19 9
Percentiles and Percentile Ranks

The relative location of individual scores

within a distribution can be described by
percentiles and percentile ranks.
The percentile rank of a particular score is
defined as the percentage of individuals in
the distribution with scores at or below the
particular value.
When a score is identified by its percentile
rank, the score is called a percentile.
 To find percentiles and percentile ranks, two new columns
are placed in the frequency distribution table:

 One is for cumulative frequency (cf) and the other is for

cumulative percentage (c%).

 The cumulative frequencies show the number of individuals

located at or below each score. To find percentiles, we must
convert these frequencies into percentages. The resulting
values are called cumulative percentages because they
show the percentage of individuals who are accumulated as
you move up the scale.
Apparent Real limits Frequenc Cf c% = Cf/N
Limits Class y (100%)
boundaries
0-3 -0.5-3.5 3 3 3/38*100=8
4-7 3.5-7.5 7 3+7 =10 26
8-11 7.5-11.5 12 3+7+12=22 57
12-15 11.5-15.5 7 3+7+12+7=29 76
16-19 15.5-19.5 9 3+7+12+7+9= 100
38
The values in this column represent the percentage of
individuals who are located in and below each
category. For example, 76% of the individuals (7 out of
38) had scores of X 15.5 or lower.. Notice that each
cumulative percentage value is associated with the
upper real limit of its interval;
Shape
A graph shows the shape of the distribution.
A distribution is symmetrical if the left side of
the graph is (roughly) a mirror image of the
right side.
One example of a symmetrical distribution is
the bell-shaped normal distribution.
On the other hand, distributions are skewed
when scores pile up on one side of the
distribution, leaving a "tail" of a few extreme
values on the other side.
Positively and Negatively Skewed
Distributions

In a positively skewed distribution, the

scores tend to pile up on the left side of the
distribution with the tail tapering off to the
right.
In a negatively skewed distribution, the
scores tend to pile up on the right side and
the tail points to the left.
Frequency Distribution
Graphs
In a frequency distribution graph, the score
categories (X values) are listed on the X
axis and the frequencies are listed on the Y
axis.
When the score categories consist of
numerical scores from an interval or ratio
scale, the graph should be either
histogram or a polygon.
Frequency distribution graphs are useful
because they show the entire set of scores.
At a glance, you can determine the highest
score, the lowest score, and where the
scores are centered.

Histograms

 In a histogram, a bar is centered above each

score (or class interval) so that the height of
the bar corresponds to the frequency and the
width extends to the real limits, so that
adjacent bars touch.
Polygons

In a polygon, a dot is centered above each

score so that the height of the dot
corresponds to the frequency. The dots are
then connected by straight lines. An
additional line is drawn at each end to
bring the graph back to a zero frequency.
Bar graphs

 When the score categories (X values) are

measurements from a nominal or an ordinal
scale, the graph should be a bar graph.
A bar graph is just like a histogram except
that gaps or spaces are left between
adjacent bars.
Relative frequency

Many populations are so large that it is

impossible to know the exact number of
individuals (frequency) for any specific
category.
In these situations, population distributions
can be shown using relative frequency
instead of the absolute number of
individuals for each category.
Males and females living in Pakistan:
Consensus data and general trends the two
numbers are very close but female
outnumbered the males so bar is slightly
above than the males without absolute
Stem-and-Leaf Displays

A stem-and-leaf display provides a very

efficient method for obtaining and
displaying a frequency distribution.
Each score is divided into a stem consisting
of the first digit or digits, and a leaf
consisting of the final digit.
Finally, you go through the list of scores,
one at a time, and write the leaf for each
score beside its stem.
 The resulting display provides an
organized picture of the entire distribution.
The number of leafs beside each stem
corresponds to the frequency, and the
Data as an ordered array (n = 10):
05 11 21 24 27 28 30 42 50 52
Divide each data point into
 Stem values  first one or two digits
 Leaf values  next digit
In this example
 Stem values  tens place
 Leaf values  ones place
 e.g., 21 has a stem value of 2 and leaf
value of 1
Draw stem-like axis from lowest to highest
stem
0|5
1|1
2|1478
3|0
4|2
5|02