Frequency Distributions &

Graphs
Raw Data
Data collected in original form.
Frequency
The number of times a certain value or class of values occurs.
Frequency Distribution
The organization of raw data in table form with classes and
frequencies.
Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
A frequency distribution of numerical data. The raw data is not
grouped.
Grouped Frequency Distribution
A frequency distribution where several numbers are grouped
into one class.
Class Limits
Separate one class in a grouped frequency distribution from another.
The limits could actually appear in the data and have gaps between
the upper limit of one class and the lower limit of the next.
Class Boundaries
Separate one class in a grouped frequency distribution from another.
The boundaries have one more decimal place than the raw data and
therefore do not appear in the data. There is no gap between the
upper boundary of one class and the lower boundary of the next class.
The lower class boundary is found by subtracting 0.5 units from the
lower class limit and the upper class boundary is found by adding 0.5
units to the upper class limit.
Class Width
The difference between the upper and lower boundaries of any class.
The class width is also the difference between the lower limits of two
consecutive classes or the upper limits of two consecutive classes. It
is not the difference between the upper and lower limits of the same
class.
Class Mark (Midpoint)
The number in the middle of the class. It is found by adding
the upper and lower limits and dividing by two. It can also be
found by adding the upper and lower boundaries and dividing
by two.

Cumulative Frequency
The number of values less than the upper class boundary for
the current class. This is a running total of the frequencies.
 Grouped Frequency Distributions
Guidelines for classes
• There should be between 5 and 20 classes.
• The class width should be an odd number. This will guarantee that
the class midpoints are integers instead of decimals.
• Data value can fall into two different classes
• All data values must be included.
• The classes must be continuous. There are no gaps in a frequency
distribution. Classes that have no values in them must be included
(unless it's the first or last class which are dropped).
• The classes must be equal in width.
Guidelines for creating a Grouped Frequency Distribution
• Find the largest and smallest values and compute the Range =
Maximum - Minimum
• Select the number of classes desired. This is usually between 5 and
20.
• Find the class width by dividing the range by the number of classes
and rounding up.
• Pick a suitable starting point less than or equal to the minimum value.
Guidelines for creating a Grouped Frequency Distribution (contd..)
• To find the upper limit of the first class, subtract one from the lower
limit of the second class. Then continue to add the class width to this
upper limit to find the rest of the upper limits.
• Find the boundaries by subtracting 0.5 units from the lower limits and
adding 0.5 units from the upper limits. The boundaries are also half-
way between the upper limit of one class and the lower limit of the
next class.
• Tally the data.
• Find the frequencies.
• Find the cumulative frequencies. Depending on what you're trying to
accomplish, it may not be necessary to find the cumulative
frequencies.
 Problems:
• 1. Arrange the following data in ascending order.
(a) 7, 2, 10, 14, 0, 6, 15, 24, 8, 3
(b) 4.6, 8.1, 2.0, 3.5, 0.7, 9.3, 1.4, 0.8
 Problems:
• 1. Arrange the following data in ascending order.
(a) 7, 2, 10, 14, 0, 6, 15, 24, 8, 3
(b) 4.6, 8.1, 2.0, 3.5, 0.7, 9.3, 1.4, 0.8

Ans-1. (a) 0, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 15, 24

(b) 0.7, 0.8, 1.4, 2.0, 3.5, 4.6, 8.1, 9.3
 Problems:
2. Arrange the following data in descending order.
(a) 14, 2, 0, 10, 6, 1, 22, 13, 28, 4, 8, 16
(b) 1.2, 3.5, 0.1, 0.3, 2.4, 8.6, 5.0, 3.7, 0.7, 0.9
 Problems:
2. Arrange the following data in descending order.
(a) 14, 2, 0, 10, 6, 1, 22, 13, 28, 4, 8, 16
(b) 1.2, 3.5, 0.1, 0.3, 2.4, 8.6, 5.0, 3.7, 0.7, 0.9

Ans-2. (a) 28, 22, 16, 14, 13, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0, 1

(b) 8.6, 5.0, 3.7, 3.5, 2.4, 1.2, 0.9, 0.7, 0.3, 0.1
8. (a) 45
(b) 5
(c) 40 - 45
(d) 32.5, 37.5, 42.5, 47.5, 52.5
9. Construct the frequency distribution table for the data on heights
(cm) of 20 boys using the class intervals 130 - 135, 135 - 140 and so on.
The heights of the boys in cm are: 140, 138, 133, 148, 160, 153, 131,
146, 134, 136, 149, 141, 155, 149, 165, 142, 144, 147, 138, 139. Also,
find the range of heights of the boys.
9. Construct the frequency distribution table for the data on heights
(cm) of 20 boys using the class intervals 130 - 135, 135 - 140 and so on.
The heights of the boys in cm are: 140, 138, 133, 148, 160, 153, 131,
146, 134, 136, 149, 141, 155, 149, 165, 142, 144, 147, 138, 139. Also,
find the range of heights of the boys.
10. Construct a frequency distribution table for the following weights (in gm) of 30
oranges using the equal class intervals, one of them is 40-45 (45 not included). The
weights are: 31, 41, 46, 33, 44, 51, 56, 63, 71, 71, 62, 63, 54, 53, 51, 43, 36, 38, 54, 56,
66, 71, 74, 75, 46, 47, 59, 60, 61, 63.
(a) What is the class mark of the class intervals 50-55?
(b) What is the range of the above weights?
(c) How many class intervals are there?
(d) Which class interval has the lowest frequency?