Name: __________________________________________ Section: ____________

CONSTRUCTING A FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION TABLE (FDT)

The Frequency Distribution Table is a tabular presentation of quantitative data grouped into numerical intervals called
classes or class intervals together with the number of observations in each class called the frequency.
It is a simple and effective method of organizing and presenting numerical data so that one can grasp an over-all picture of
the data set.

The Frequency Distribution Table, FDT, can have as many as eight columns or more, but we will be using four columns in
this module: Class Interval (CI), Frequency (f), Lower Class Boundary (LCB), and the Cumulative Frequency (cf).

TO CONSTRUCT A FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION TABLE FOR THE DATA GIVEN ABOVE, USE THE FOLLOWING
STEPS.
Step 1. Determine the range. Range is the difference between the highest and the lowest value in the set of data. Range (R) =
Highest Value – Lowest Value
Range =

Step 2. Compute the approximate number of classes(K) in which the data are to be grouped using the formula K = √𝑁 where N is the
number of observations. Round off answer to the nearest whole number.
K = √𝑁 (N is equal to 30 since there are 30 observations in the given data above)
K=
Step 3. Solve for the class width, (𝑖) by dividing the range by the number of classes and rounding off to the nearest odd integer. 𝑖 =
range
K
𝒊= round to the nearest odd integer. (This will assure that the class midpoints are integers rather than decimals)
Step 4. Start making the frequency distribution table by completing the first column (class interval). Since 12 is the lowest value, it
will be the first lower limit. To get the first upper limit, add (𝒊 – 1) to the first lower limit.

Class Interval
To get the next lower limits, add the previous
lower limit to the value of i which is 7. Do the
same with the upper limits. Stop adding when the
Step 5. Fill highest value is within the latest class interval
in the
frequency
of each class interval. The frequency is the number of observations within the
class interval. We do this by counting the number of observations in the
class interval from the given data set.

Step 6. Complete the lower Class boundary (LCB or LB) of each class interval. The lower-Class boundary is found by
subtracting 0.5 units from the lower class limit.
Step 7. Fill in the column for less than cumulative frequency. The cumulative frequency means summing up the consecutive
frequencies.

Class Interval Frequency (f) Lower Class Less than

Coundary (LCB) Commulative
 Frequency (<cf)

Note: After completing the Frequency Distribution Table (FDT), we can now solve for the different measures of position for
grouped data.

The Quartiles for Grouped Data

Quartiles divide the distribution into four equal parts. To find the quartiles of grouped data, we follow the following steps:
STEP 1: Determine the location of the QUARTILE CLASS being computed using the formula below:

kN
Location of Qk= Where:
4
k - nth quartile, where n=1,2, or 3
N – number of observations or the total frequency

STEP 2: Compute the value of the QUARTILES using the formula below:

[ ]
kN
< cf b
4 Where:
Qk =LB+ i
fQ k

LB -lower boundary of the class

N -total frequency
<𝒄𝒇𝒃−less than cumulative frequency of the class before the
𝒇𝑸𝒌−class frequency of the class
𝒊 -size of class interval
k -nth quartile, where n=1,2, or 3

STEP 3: INTERPRET the result

Example:
Twenty people were nominated to do the push-up challenge. To do this, they must record the number of
push-ups they can do every day for twenty-five days. Below is the list of the number of push-ups they were able
to do on the first day.

5 9 0 30 25 15 19 17 18 18
10 15 18 12 18 1 5 3 3 26

Make a Frequency Distribution Table based on this data set.