FREQUENCY

DIAGRAMS

H I S TO G R A M , P O LYG O N ,
OGIVE AND TIME SERIES
 HISTOGRAM
What is a
Histogram?
Histogram is a graphical presentation of a frequency distribution of a continuous series.

Features of a histogram are:

a. Series of rectangles next to each other
b. Width of the rectangles corresponds to the class interval of the item
c. Height (or length) is in proportion to the frequencies of the class intervals.
d. The data should be in the form of an exclusive series

Construction of a histogram involves the following steps:

a. Case 1: if class intervals are equal, skip to step b.
2: if class intervals are unequal, following steps to be followed:
i. Determine width of the lowest class-interval: this width to be taken as standard
ii. Based in the width of other class intervals, calculate Adjustment Factor for each class as:
Adjustment Factor = (Width of the Class Interval)/ (Width of the lowest class interval)
iii. Frequencies of other classes are then distributed over the new adjusted class class interval equally
b. On X-axis, each class interval (including the adjusted ones) is drawn, in which width of rectangle is equal
(or proportional) to the magnitude of class interval.
c. On the Y-axis, the frequencies are plotted. (examples on next slides for demonstrations)

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 Demonstration for construction of a Histogram

Equal Class Intervals Unequal Class Intervals

Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 40-50 Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-60 60-80 80-90 90-100
Example
1 No.of students 30 45 55 60 35 No.of students 5 10 4 18 4 3 9

Step 1: The lowest class interval is 10

Step 2: Adjustment factor for 30-60 = 30/10 = 3
So, divide its frequency by 3
Adjustment factor for 60-80 = 20/10 = 2
So, divide its frequency by 2
Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-60 60-80 80-90 90-100

No.of students 5 10 4 18 4 3 9

Adjusted 5 10 4 18/3 4/2 = 3 9

Frequecy =6 2

Graph on next slide

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 Marks 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-60 60-80 80-90 90-100

No.of students 5 10 4 18 4 3 9

Adjusted Frequecy 5 10 4 18/3 = 6 4/2 = 2 3 9

Example
2

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Example Construct a histogram from the following
3 distribution of total wages obtained by 50
workers in a company:
Daily Wages 150 160 170 180 190 200
(Mid-Point)
No.of workers 5 10 20 12 2 1

Conversion of mid-points to class interval. Difference

between values is 10. So, half of the difference will be added
and subtracted from each value to get the class interval, as
follows: l1 = m – i/2 and l2 = m + i/2
Daily Wages 150 160 170 180 190 200
(Mid-Point)
Technique l1 = 150 – 10/2
= 145
l2 = 150 + 10/2
= 155

Daily Wages 145-155 155-165 165-175 175-185 185-195 195-205

No.of workers 5 10 20 12 2 1

Daily wages are drawn on X-axis and number of workers on

the Y-axis to get the histogram that follows: A kinked line is used to “reduce” the distance between
0 and the minimum value on the X-axis

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 FREQUENCY POLYGON AND FREQUENCY CURVE
What are
Frequency Polygon
and Frequency Frequency polygon is formed by joining with a straight line the mid-points of the
Curve? top of all rectangles in a histogram

Features of a Frequency Polygon are:

a. Drawn by joining with a straight line the mid-points of the rectangles of the corresponding histogram.
Examples b. Can be drawn by also joining the mid-values of the frequency distribution
on next c. Both the ends are extended to meet the X-axis to the immediately lower or higher imaginary values of
slides as the class intervals in such a way as to ensure that the area under the curve is same as that of the
demos histogram.
d. Frequency polygon is also known as simply “Polygon”.

Frequency curve is formed by joining with a freehand curve the mid-points of the top of all rectangles in
a histogram

Features of a Frequency Curve are: (differs from a Frequency Polygon by only the way the mid-points are joined)
a. Drawn by joining with a freehand smooth curve the mid-points of the rectangles of the corresponding histogram.
b. Can be drawn by also joining the mid-values of the frequency distribution
c. Both the ends are extended to meet the X-axis to the immediately lower or higher imaginary values of the class
intervals in such a way as to ensure that the area under the curve is same as that of the histogram.

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 OGIVE OR CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY CURVE
What are Ogive of
Cumulative
Frequency Curve? Ogive or Cumulative Frequency Curve is the curve which is obtained by plotting
cumulative frequency data on a graph

Ogives are of the following two types:

a. “Less than” ogive
Examples b. “More than” ogive
on next Steps for constructing a “More than” ogive:
slides as
demos Steps for constructing a “Less than” ogive: 1. Frequencies of all the succeeding class intervals
1. Frequencies of all the preceding class are added to the frequency of a class or start
intervals are added to the frequency of with the lower limit of the classes and go on
a class subtracting frequencies of next classes.
2. Plot “Less than cumulated frequencies” 2. Plot “More than cumulated frequencies” against
against the upper limit of the the lower limit of the corresponding class
corresponding class interval interval
3. These points are then joined by a free- 3. These points are then joined by a free-hand
hand curve curve

It is possible to construct both “less than” and “more than” ogives on the same graph. The intersection
of the two curves will give the value of the Median of the distribution.
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