Classification and Tabulation

The data collected also called as raw or ungrouped data are to be

organized and presented in meaningful and comprehensive form in
order to facilitate further statistical analysis. The process of grouping
into different classes or subclasses according to some characteristics
is called as classification. Tabulation is concerned with arrangement
and presentation of classified data and hence classification is the first
step. Summarisation of data starts with classification of the data.
Arrangement of data according to some common features is known as
classification. Classification is done according to the type of data i.e.
attribute(qualitative) or measurable(quantitative) data. In case of
attribute data we count items with specified characteristics and put
them in appropriate categories. If the data are measurable they are
classified according to classes.

The different classifications are

chronological
geographical
qualitative and
quantitative.

In chronological classification the data are arranged according to

order of time expressed in years, months, weeks, days etc. The data
are generally classified in ascending order of time.

Example: Production of food grains from 2014 to 2018

years 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Production 35.2 38.9 40.2 43.7 45.8
(in million tones).

Daily share prices of a company, daily temperature etc.

In geographical classification it is classified according to regions or
locations or places. For example production of food grains in different
states, rainfall in different districts of Tamilnadu.

Production of paddy in south india in the year 2018

State production
Andhra 203.4
Tamilnadu 305.2
Kerala 287.5
Karnataka 299.0
Qualitative classification is based on the basis of some qualitative
characters like literacy, religion, gender, education etc.

Simple classification is one where a single variable is used.

For example, Population can be categorised as male and female.

In the above example if the male population is further divided into

literate and illiterate and female population into literate and illiterate,
then it is two way classification.

Quantitative classification

In this classification we classify according to some characters which

can be measured such as height, weight, age, marks etc. If the
classication is based only on one quantitative variable then it is called
as one way classification. Example classification based on the height
of the students or classification based on the age of the students. If
the classification is based on two quantitative variables then it is
called as two way classification. Classification based on age and
height of the students is an example.

Tabulation

A table is a systematic arrangement of classified data in columns and

rows. This helps to present a huge data in a detailed and orderly form.
It also facilitates comparison. Also helps in the statistical analysis by
calculating various constants.

Example 1. Distribution of students in a class

Category number
Boys 25
Girls 28
Example 2. Distribution of students based on gender and place of
residence

Boys Rural 15
Urban 20
Girls Rural 14
Urban 22
If the table represents only one characters then it is called as one
way table. Example

Marks No of students
80 - 85 23
85 - 90 29
90 - 95 31
95 - 100 15

Sorting of data into categories or classes will lead to formation of

frequency distribution. The term frequency is used to denote the
number of times a category or class occur. The frequency is denoted
by f. The classes are denoted by X.

No of children X No of families f
0 45
1 33
2 22
Frequently we want to represent two variables in a single table. Such
tables are called two way tables. If both the variables are quantitative
variables they are also called as correlation table. Example is

weight (kgs)

Height(cms) 50 - 55 55 - 60 60 - 65 65 - 70
160 - 165 5 12 15 10
165 - 170 10 15 11 6

If the two variables are qualitative then that table is called

contingency table. Example is

Education
Gender UG PG Professional
Male 45 52 30
Female 53 62 20

If there are two variables out of which one is qualitative and the other
is quantitative then it is just called two way table and not correlation
table or contingency table. Example

Table showing the distribution of gender and income

Income(in thousands)
Gender 20 - 25 25 - 30 30 - 35
Male 8 20 25
Female 9 18 22