Lecture 2b:

Review of Basic
Statistical Concepts
(Frequency Distribution Table)
Data Organization, Presentation
and Analysis

2
Frequency
• The frequency of a particular data value is the
number of times the data value occurs.

Frequency Distribution Table

• It is a statistical table showing the number of observations contained in each
defined class or category.
• A tabular arrangement of data by classes together with the corresponding
class frequencies.
• Data organized in this table are referred to as grouped data.
Frequency Distribution Table

Diameter Class Frequency

11-15 12
16-20 24
21-25 35
26-30 19
31-35 10
Total 100

4
Frequency Distribution Table
Construct a frequency distribution table of the diameter at breast
height of 50 trees obtained from a sample plot in PFLA1:

23, 50, 38, 42, 63, 75, 12, 33, 26, 39, 35, 47, 43, 52, 56, 59,
64, 77, 15, 21, 51, 54, 72, 68, 36, 65, 52, 60, 27, 34, 47, 48,
55, 58, 59, 62, 51, 48, 50, 41, 57, 65, 54, 43, 56, 44, 30, 46,
67, 53

5
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table

Step 1. Arrange the values into an ARRAY (ascending or descending

order).
12, 15, 21, 23, 26, 27, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41,
42, 43, 43, 44, 46, 47, 47, 48, 48, 50, 50, 51, 51, 52,
52, 53, 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 57, 58, 59, 59, 60, 62, 63,
64, 65, 65, 67, 68, 72, 75, 77

6
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Step 2. Determine the RANGE (R) of the data.

R = Highest value (HV) – Lowest value (LV)

R = Highest value (HV) – Lowest value (LV)

R = 77 – 12
R = 65

7
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Step 3. Determine the NUMBER OF CLASSES (K). It is the square
root of the total number of observations (N).

𝐊= 𝑵 NOTE: K is rounded off to the nearest whole number.

𝐊 = 𝟓𝟎 = 7.07  7

8
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Step 4. Calculate the CLASS SIZE (C). The class size is the distance
from the upper limit of one class to the upper limit of the next
class.
𝑹
𝑪= NOTE: C must have the same precision as the raw data.

𝑲
𝑹 𝟔𝟓
𝑪= = = 𝟗. 𝟐𝟗 ~ 𝟏𝟎
𝑲 𝟕

9
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Step 5. Enumerate the classes or categories based on the quantities calculated
previously, taking note that:
the lowest class must include the lowest observed value and the highest
class, the highest observed value (the lowest value is the lower class limit
of the first class).
Each observation will go into one and only one class (i.e. no gaps and
overlaps between classes).
Lower limit 1 = lowest value
Upper limit 1 = lower limit 1 + C - 1 unit of measure
Lower limit 2 = lower limit 1 + C
Upper limit 2 = upper limit 1 + C
1
Note: 1 unit of measure is equal to 𝑥 , where x is the maximum number of
10
decimal places observed from the raw data.
10
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Class Boundary
Upper limit 1 = lower limit 1 + C - 1
Lower limit 1 = lowest value = 12 12-21 unit of measure
= 12 + (10-1) = 21
22-31
Lower limit 2 = lower limit 1 + C
Upper limit 2 = upper
= 12 + 10 = 22
32-41 limit 1 + C
= 21 + 10 =31
42-51

52-61

62-71

72-81

11
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Step 6. Tally the observations into the classes in order to get the frequency for
each class.
Class Boundary Tally Frequency (f)
12, 15, 21, 23, 26, 27, 30,
33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 12-21 III 3
42, 43, 43, 44, 46, 47, 47,
48, 48, 50, 50, 51, 51, 52, 22-31 IIII 4

52, 53, 54, 54, 55, 56, 56, 32-41 IIIII-II 7

57, 58, 59, 59, 60, 62, 63,
64, 65, 65, 67, 68, 72, 75, 42-51 IIIII-IIIII-III 13
77
52-61 IIIII-IIIII-III 13

62-71 IIIII-II 7

72-81 III 3

50
12
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Step 7. Add other informative columns.

True Class Boundaries (TCB) - removes discontinuity between

classes.

Lower TCB: LTCB = LL – 0.5(one unit of measure)

Upper TCB: UTCB = UL + 0.5(one unit of measure)

13
 Class
Tally Frequency (f) TCB
Boundary

Lower TCB: LTCB = LL – (0.5)(1) 12-21 III 3 11.5-21.5

Upper TCB: UTCB = UL + (0.5)(1) 22-31 IIII 4 21.5-31.5

32-41 IIIII-II 7 31.5-41.5

42-51 IIIII-IIIII-III 13 41.5-51.5

52-61 IIIII-IIIII-III 13 51.5-61.5

62-71 IIIII-II 7 61.5-71.5

72-81 III 3 71.5-81.5

50

14
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Step 7. Add other informative columns.

Class Mark (CM) - the midpoint of the class interval.

𝑳𝑳+𝑼𝑳 𝑼𝑻𝑪𝑩+𝑳𝑻𝑪𝑩
CM = =
𝟐 𝟐

Relative frequency (RF) - proportion of observations falling into

one class (may be expressed in %)
𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚
RF =
𝑵

15
 CB
Frequency TCB Class Mark RF
(f)

Class Mark
12-21 3 11.5-21.5 ((12+21)÷2) = 16.5 6

(CM)= (LL+UL)/2 = 22-31 4 21.5-31.5 ((22+31)÷2) = 26.5 8

(UTCB+LTCB)/2 32-41 7 31.5-41.5 ((32+41)÷2) = 36.5 14

Relative frequency 42-51 13 41.5-51.5 ((42+51)÷2) = 46.5 26

(RF)= frequency/N 52-61 13 51.5-61.5 ((52+61)÷2) = 56.5 26

62-71 7 61.5-71.5 ((62+71)÷2) = 66.5 14

72-81 3 71.5-81.5 ((72+81)÷2) = 76.5 6

50 100

16
Construction of a Frequency Distribution Table
Step 7. Add other informative columns.

Cumulative frequency (CF)

<CF - corresponds to the number of observations less than or equal the
specified upper limit.
>CF - corresponds to the number of observations greater than or equal to
the lower limit of a class
Relative Cumulative frequency (RCF)
<RCF - expresses the <CF in proportion to N.
>RCF - expresses the >CF in proportion to N.

17
 Frequenc
CB TCB Class Mark RF <CF CF>
y (f)
((12+21)÷2) =
12-21 3 11.5-21.5 6 3 47+3=50
16.5
((22+31)÷2) =
22-31 4 21.5-31.5 8 3+4=7 43+4=47
26.5
((32+41)÷2) =
32-41 7 31.5-41.5 14 7+7=14 36+7=43
36.5
((42+51)÷2) = 14+13=2 23+13=3
42-51 13 41.5-51.5 26
46.5 7 6
((52+61)÷2) = 27+13=4 10+13=2
52-61 13 51.5-61.5 26
56.5 0 3
((62+71)÷2) =
62-71 7 61.5-71.5 14 40+7=47 3+7=10
66.5
((72+81)÷2) =
72-81 3 71.5-81.5 6 47+3=50 3
76.5
50 100
18
 < >
Class
Cumula Cumula
Boundary True Class Class Relative <Relative >Relative
Freq tive tive
(DBH in Boundaries Mark Freq (%) CF (%) CF (%)
Freq Freq
cm)
(%) (%)
12-21 3 11.5-21.5 16.5 6 3 50 6 100
22-31 4 21.5-31.5 26.5 8 7 47 14 94

32-41 7 31.5-41.5 36.5 14 14 43 28 86

42-51 13 41.5-51.5 46.5 26 27 36 54 72

52-61 13 51.5-61.5 56.5 26 40 23 80 46

62-71 7 61.5-71.5 66.5 14 47 10 94 20

72-81 3 71.5-81.5 76.5 6 50 3 100 6

n=50 100

19
Graphs associated with the Frequency Distribution Table
HISTOGRAMS

• A bar graph that plots the TCB or CM

(x-axis) against the frequency (y-axis).
• A histogram has a similar appearance
to a column graph but no gaps
between the columns. It is used to
depict data from the measurement of
a continuous variable.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

20
Graphs associated with the Frequency Distribution Table
FREQUENCY POLYGON

• A frequency polygon is a graph formed by

joining the mid-points of histogram column
tops. Obviously, they are only used when
depicting data from the continuous variable
shown on a histogram.
• A frequency polygon smooth out abrupt
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
changes that may appear in a histogram,
and is therefore useful for demonstrating
continuity of the variable being studied.
Graphs associated with the Frequency Distribution Table
OGIVE

• A cumulative line graph

• Best used when you want to display
the total at any given time
• Graphs the ordinates of which
represent cumulative frequencies of
the values indicated by the
corresponding abscissas
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

22
Thank you very much!