MODULE 11

Frequency Distribution

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
 Define Frequency Distribution
 Construct a Frequency Distribution Table
 Find the range and width of the class interval
 Determine the number of class intervals
.

I.DISCUSSION:

FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION

Frequency distribution is a representation, either in a graphical or

tabular format, that displays the number of observations within a given
interval.
A frequency distribution can be graphed as a histogram or pie chart.
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of
time

Tables
A table helps us to organize and analyze a set of data values.

Frequency Tables

A frequency table is a tabular representation of a data set in an

ascending order of magnitude with their corresponding frequencies. It is
a simple device to provide a count of how often a data value occurs.
Note:

The word 'frequency' means 'how often'.

Example 7

The scores awarded to 25 students for an assignment were as follows:

4 7 5 9 8 6 7 7 8 5 6 9 8
5 8 7 4 7 3 6 8 9 7 6 9

Frequency Tables with Class Intervals

A frequency table for a data set containing a large number of data values is
constructed as follows:

 Determine the data range of the data set.

 Compute the width of the class intervals.

Spurger formula, k = 1 + 3.3 log (n).

 Divide the range by the chosen width of the class interval to determine the
number of intervals.

A school nurse weighed 30 students in Year 10. Their weights (in kg) were
recorded as follows:

50 52 53 54 55 65 60 70 48 63
74 40 46 59 68 44 47 56 49 58
63 66 68 61 57 58 62 52 56 58

Direction: Construct a frequency table for the data using an appropriate scale.
Solution:

Step 1:Find the range.

Step 2:Find the width of the class intervals

K = 1 + 3.3 log (N)

K = 1 + 3.3 (1.477121255)

K = 1 + 4.87

K = 5.87

K = 6

Step 3. Determine the number of class intervals.

No. of Class Intervals = Range/Width of the class intervals

= 34/6

= 5.6666666666666

= 6

Step 4. Draw the frequency table using the selected scale and intervals.

Class Tally Frequency

Intervals (f)
70-75 11 2
64-69 1111 4
58-63 1111 - 1111 9
 52-57 1111 - 111 8
46-51 1111 5
40-45 11 2
N 30

WIDTH OF THE CLASS INTERVAL – 1 = 5

6 -1 = 5

Example 2:

The data below shows the mass of 40 students in a class. The measurement is to the nearest kg.

55 70 57 73 55 59 64 72
60 48 58 54 69 51 63 78
75 64 65 57 71 78 76 62
49 66 62 76 61 63 63 76
52 76 71 61 53 56 67 71

Construct a frequency table for the data using an appropriate scale.

Solution:

Step 1:Find the range.

R = Highest Weight - Lowest Weight

R = 78 - 48

R = 30

Step 2: Find the width of class intervals.

K = 1 + 3.3 log (N)

K = 1 + 3.3 log (40)
 K = 1 + 3.3 ( 1.60)

K = 1 + 5.28

K = 6.28

K =6

Step3:Determine the number of class intervals.

No. of Class Intervals = Range/Width of the class intervals

= 30/ 6

= 5

Step 4: Draw the frequency table using the selected scale and intervals.

Class Intervals Tally Frequency Percentage

78 - 83 1 1 2.5%
72 - 77 1111 -111 8 20%
66- 71 1111 -11 7 17.5%
60 - 65 1111 1111 1 11 27.5%
54 - 59 1111- 111 8 20%
48 - 53 1111 5 12.5%
N 40 100%

NOTE: The number of class intervals is 5. If 78 the highest number does not

belong to (72-77) ADD another class interval like ( 78-83).

Yes, based on the computation of number of class interval is 5,

Since 78 is not in this bracket add another class interval .This is

the rule of statistics.

II. ASSESSMENT:
Direction: Construct a frequency distribution table
1.A packaging process is supposed to fill small boxes of raisins with approximately 50 raisins so that each
box will weigh the same. However the number of raisins in each box will vary. Suppose 100 boxes of raisins
are randomly sampled, the raisins counted, and the following data are obtained.

57 51 53 52 50 60 51 51 52 52
44 53 45 57 39 53 58 47 51 48
49 49 44 54 46 52 55 54 47 53
51 52 49 54 57 52 52 53 49 47
54 48 55 53 55 47 53 43 48 46
55 46 51 48 53 56 48 47 49 57
46 53 50 47 57 49 43 53 52 44
59 59 57 47 61 60 49 53 41 48
47 53 45 45 56 40 46 49 50 57
43 52 48 50 45 56 47 47 48 46

Class Count Percentage

39 - 43 6 6

44 - 48 31 31

49 - 53 39 39

54 - 58 19 19

59 - 63 5 5

Total 100 100

2)The following data represent the number of passengers per flight in a sample of 50 flights from
Wichita, Kansas, to Kansas City Missouri.

23 46 66 67 13 58 19 17 65 17

25 20 47 28 16 38 44 29 48 29

69 34 35 60 37 52 80 59 51 33

48 46 23 38 52 50 17 57 41 77

45 47 49 19 32 64 27 61 70 19

Class Tally Frequency

intervals
76-82 II 2
69-75 II 2
62-68 IIII 4
55-61 IIIII 5
48-54 IIIIIII 7
41-47 IIIIIII 7
34-40 IIIII 5
27-33 IIIIII 6
20-26 IIII 4
13-19 IIIIIIII 8