STATISTICS 1

MODULE 2.0 DISPLAYING QUALITATIVE VARIABLES

Lesson 2.1 Frequency and Relative Frequency Distributions
Time Limit 30 minutes

TARGET
At the end of this lesson, the learner is expected to:
✓ identify the necessary information for a frequency distribution table; and
✓ construct a frequency distribution table using technology.

HOOK
From the previous lesson, you were able to learn about variables and how to
classify them. A variable can be either qualitative (categorical) or quantitative
(numerical). Qualitative variables are used to place individuals into one category
based on identified characteristic or attribute and cannot be ranked, while quantitative
variables are numerical in nature and can be ordered, measured, or counted. Variables can be organized
and presented according to their classification. Have you ever wondered how data visualization occurs?
Do you know that there are appropriate tables or graphs to use when presenting gathered data about a
particular variable?
The three commonly used methods of presenting data are textual, tabular, and graphical. In this
lesson, we will be focusing on categorical variables and how we can present them using tabular method.
Specifically, we will be discussing the categorical frequency distribution.

IGNITE
The use of tables is a very common way to present data. We have what we
call the frequency distribution table (FDT) to show how the individuals are spread
out among classifications. For a categorical variable, a frequency distribution table
consists of the following:
✓ classes or categories
✓ frequency (𝒇) or number of measurements in each category
✓ relative frequency or proportion of frequency from each class to the total
number of observations.

Example 1: Suppose all students in your section were asked about their blood types and the raw data
are shown in the table below. Construct a frequency distribution to present the data.

A O AB A A O
A B O B O A
O O B O A O
B O O B O AB
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The variable we are working on for this example is blood type, a qualitative or categorical variable . To
present our raw data into a frequency distribution we consider the following steps:

Step 1: We need to identify the classes or categories in this variable. The classes are A, B, O, and AB.
Step 2: We count the number of students having the blood type from each category, this will fall under
the second column labeled as Frequency. It is a bit tedious, most of the times impractical to do
this manually especially when you have large data. Later, we will discuss the use of technology
in constructing the table.
Step 3: To compute for the relative frequency, divide the frequency (𝑓) in each class to the total number
(𝑛) of observations. For this example, our total number of observations is 30.
𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑓
𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = =
𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑛
Usually, relative frequencies are written in simplified fraction or decimals. These values will
be reflected in the third column, labeled as Relative frequency.

Table 1 shows how the frequency distribution table for the given example would look like. Do not forget
to include the totals for the frequency and relative frequency column when presenting your frequency
distribution table.
𝒇
Classes Frequency (𝒇) Relative frequency = (𝒏)
7
A 7 30
or 0.2333
4
B 8 15
or 0.2667
13
O 13 or 0.4333
30
1
AB 2 15
or 0.0667
Total 𝑛 = 30 1.00
Table 1. Frequency Distribution Table for the Blood Types of a Class

To illustrate the use of technology, we will be using MS Excel to create the frequency
distribution table. It has a lot of functions that we can use in this subject so expect to be introduced to
some excel formulas. For raw data, it is important that the variable/s are encoded in each column and
each response in a row so we can easily apply the necessary formula or functions in Excel.
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 The following are the steps in constructing the frequency distribution table:
1. Open your data in excel.

2. On the menu bar, click Insert → PivotTable.

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3. On the Table/Range field, select the range for your data (i.e., the entire column A). Choose Existing
Worksheet then select a blank cell (e.g., C1) on your worksheet.

4. Click OK.

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5. On the left side of the window (Pivot Table Fields), drag Blood Type to Rows and Values.

6. To create the frequency table, copy the values on the table you have created using the paste special
function (i.e., highlight the table, copy it, then on a blank cell, paste special → values → ok).

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7. Edit the header for each column by replacing Row Labels with Classes, and Count of Blood Type
with Frequency. For the third column which is the relative frequency column, you can use a simple
formula similar to what is shown below to generate the value for each category. Note: The $$ was
used to fix the location of the cell in the formula.

8. Copy and paste the formula for the remaining rows.

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 NAVIGATE
It is now your turn to apply what you have learned from this module. Carefully
follow the indicated instruction below. This exercise will be a graded activity.
The Titanic data set provides information on the fate of passengers on the fatal
maiden voyage of the ocean liner "Titanic", summarized according to economic status (class), age, sex,
and survival.
✓ Choose only one of the categorical variables on the data set and construct a frequency
distribution using Excel.
✓ Save a new copy of the data set with your answers on the same sheet.
✓ Rename your file with the following format: Stat Q1 M2 L2.1 CLASS CODE (e.g., Stat Q1
M2 L2.1 Be01).
✓ Submit your answer (excel file) via email to ___________________ (online submission) or
save it on the flash disk provided (offline submission).

KNOT
In summary, we have discussed in this lesson how we can present a categorical
variable using a table.

✓ The table is called categorical frequency distribution.

✓ The table is composed of three columns labeled as classes, frequency, and relative frequency.
𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑓
✓ 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑛𝑜.𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 = 𝑛
It is expressed as a simplified fraction or decimal.
✓ Use the PivotTable function in Excel to easily generate the count/frequency for each class in a given
variable.
✓ To compute for the relative frequency, use a simple excel formula.
✓ The $$ should be used to fix a cell address in a formula.

References:
1. Bluman, A.G. (2014). Elementary Statistics: A step by step approach (9th Edition). Mc-Graw Hill
2. De Veaux, R.D., Velleman, P.F., & Bock, D.E. (2014). Intro stats (New International Edition).
Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited

Prepared by: Mark Louvelle Parulan Reviewed by: Myrna B. Libutaque

Position: SST I Position: SST V
Campus: PSHS-MC Campus: PSHS-WVC
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