CHAPTER 2

Frequency Distributions
and Graphs

Lecture 3

Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 1

 Learning Objectives

In this lesson, you will learn how to:

▪ Organize qualitative data using a categorical frequency

distribution .
▪ Organize quantitative data using ( grouped , ungrouped) frequency
distribution .

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 2

2.1 Organizing Data
▪ After collecting data, the researcher to organize it in a meaningful
way so that it is possible to get a general overview of the results.
▪ One method for simplifying and organizing data is to construct a
frequency distribution.

Frequency distribution – is a summary display for a

distribution of data
The frequency (f) of a particular observation is the
number of times the observation occurs in the data

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 3

2.1 Organizing Data
Frequency Distribution:
There are different types of frequency distributions to choose from,
depending on if the data is categorical (qualitative) or quantitative:

▪ When data is collected using a qualitative variable, data are

summarized in a categorical frequency distribution

▪ When it is quantitative data, there are two frequency

distributions to choose from: Grouped frequency distribution
and ungrouped frequency distribution.

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 4

2.1 Organizing Data
Frequency Distribution:
Organizing Data

Raw data

Qualitative Data Quantitative Data

Categorical Frequency Grouped Frequency Ungrouped Frequency

Distribution Distribution Distribution

Note:
Raw Data: data collected in original form
STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 5
2.1 Organizing Data
Categorical Frequency Distribution:

Categorical Frequency Distribution: is used to organize

qualitative data such as political affiliation, religious
affiliation, major field of study or marital status.

Categorical Frequency Distribution

Class Tally Frequency Percent

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 6

2.1 Organizing Data
Categorical Frequency Distribution:
STEPS TO CONSTRUCT A FREQUENCY
DISTRIBUTION OF QUALITATIVE DATA

Step 1: Place the different values of the observations in

the data set in the first column of a table.
Step 2: Tally the data
Step 3: Count the tallies for each distinct value and
register the totals in the third column of the table.
Step 4: Compute the Percent

𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐟

𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 = *100% = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝐓𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐧

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 7

2.1 Organizing Data
Categorical Frequency Distribution:
Example 2.1-page 43
The data below (raw data) represent the blood types of 25 people:

A B O AB B

B O AB B A

O B A O AB

O A O B O

AB B A O O

Construct a frequency distribution for the data below.

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 8

2.1 Organizing Data
Categorical Frequency Distribution:
Solution
Tally Frequency(f) Percent
5 20%
A
9 28%
B
7 36%
O
16%
AB 4

Total n =∑ f = 25 ∑ = 100%

𝐟
𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎%
𝐧

𝟓 𝟕 𝟗 𝟒
𝐏 𝐀 = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎% = 𝟐𝟎% 𝐏 𝐁 = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎% = 𝟐𝟖% 𝐏 𝐀𝐁 = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎% = 𝟑𝟔% 𝐏 𝐎 = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎% = 𝟏𝟔%
𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟓 𝟐𝟓

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 9

2.1 Organizing Data
Categorical Frequency Distribution:
Activity page 44
We asked 30 employees from a company if they are satisfied with their current
job. The responses of these employees are recorded below, where very represents
very satisfied, somewhat means somewhat satisfied, and none stands for not
satisfied at all.

Construct a frequency distribution table for these data.

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 10

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped & Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
The organization of quantitative data in a frequency distribution table relies on the
range of the data:
▪ If the range and number of observed values in a dataset is large, data are
summarized in a grouped frequency distribution .
▪ If the range of the data is relatively small, a single data value is used for each
class and data are summarized in an ungrouped frequency distribution .

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 11

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution

Grouped Frequency
Distribution

Frequency Relative Cumulative

Class Frequency ( rf ) Frequency (Cf )
(f)

class
class width class midpoint class limits
boundaries

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 12

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
STEPS TO CONSTRUCT GROUPED
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION

1.Determine the classes:

a) Find the range: Range = Highest - Lowest
b) Select the number of classes (5 to 20)
c) Find the width
d) Select a starting point for the lowest class limit and calculate all
lower-class limits
e) Find the upper-class limits
f) Find the class boundaries
g) Calculate the midpoints of classes
2. Find the numerical frequencies
𝒇
Relative Frequency = (Frequency / Number of Observations) =
σ𝒇
3. Find the cumulative frequencies

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 13

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution

▪ Class Limits : Separate one class in a grouped frequency distribution from another
❖The smallest value that can be included in a class is called Lower Limit of the class
❖ The largest value that can be included in a class is called Upper Limit of the class.

▪ Class Boundaries: It is the midpoint between the upper class limit of a class and the
lower class limit of the next class. Each class has both upper and lower limit boundary
Lower Class Boundary = Lower Class Limit – 0.5
Upper Class Boundary = UpperClass Limit + 0.5

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 14

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
▪ Class Width: The difference between the lower limit of a class and the lower limit of
the next-higher class = The difference between the two boundaries of a class

Class width = lower limit of a class - the lower limit of the next higher class
= Upper boundary – Lower boundary

▪ Class Midpoint: The average of the two class limits of a class or the average of the
two class boundaries:
𝐋𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭 + 𝐔𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭
Class midpoint (𝑿𝒎 ) =
𝟐

𝐋𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲 + 𝐔𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐲

=
𝟐

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 15

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
RULES FOR CLASSES IN GROUPED FREQUENCY
DISTRIBUTIONS:

▪ Classes should be between 5 and 20 classes .

▪ It is preferable but not absolutely necessary that the class
width be an odd number.
▪ Classes must be mutually exclusive (no overlap between
classes so a given data value can fall into only one class).
▪ Classes must be exhaustive. There should be enough
classes to accommodate all the data.
▪ Classes must be equal in width.

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2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
Example 2.3-page 46
A study done on 50 students practicing Volleyball at a University included a
question about their height. The raw data below presents the heights of
these students, rounded to the nearest centimeter:

176 166 177 150 169

154 170 155 163 176
160 168 171 170 178
170 175 173 168 176
174 172 158 151 178
173 162 169 171 175
169 177 175 152 178
155 165 177 164 176
161 166 175 178 177
175 162 179 170 177

Construct a frequency distribution for the data using 5 classes?

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 17

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
Solution
STEP 1 Determine the classes.

❖Find the range : Range (R) = Highest value – Lowest value

= H-L = 179 – 150 = 29

❖Number of classes = 5 (in our case, it is given)

❖Find the class width by dividing the range by the number of classes.

𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝟐𝟗
Width = = = 5.8 ≈ 6
𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝟓

ROUNDING RULE:
▪ Always round up if a remainder. If there is no remainder, you
will need to add an extra class to accommodate all the data.

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 18

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
▪ Select a starting point for the lowest class limit (it can be the lowest value in the
dataset or any convenient number less than the lowest data value).

Lower class limit of the first class = the lowest value in the data set = 150

▪ The subsequent lower class limits are found by adding the width( width=6) to
the previous lower class limits.

Class limits 155 = 156 - 1

150 – 155
156 – 161
162 – 167
150 + 6=156
168 – 173
174 – 179

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 19

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
▪ Find the class boundaries by subtracting 0.5 from each lower class limit
and adding 0.5 to each upper class limit:
Example :Lower class boundary of the first class = 150 – 0.5 = 149.5
Upper class boundary of the first class = 155 + 0.5 = 155.5
▪ Calculate class midpoints:
𝟏𝟓𝟎+𝟏𝟓𝟓 𝟑𝟎𝟓
Example: Class midpoint of the first class = = = 152.5
𝟐 𝟐

Class Midpoints 𝟏𝟓𝟔 − 𝟎. 𝟓 = 𝟏𝟓𝟓. 𝟓

Class Limits Class Boundaries
(Xm)
𝟏𝟔𝟏 + 𝟎. 𝟓 = 𝟏𝟔𝟏. 𝟓
150 – 155 149.5 -- 155.5 152.5
--
156 – 161 155.5 161.5 158.5 𝟏𝟔𝟐 + 𝟏𝟔𝟕
= 𝟏𝟔𝟒. 𝟓
162 – 167 161.5 -- 167.5 164.5 𝟐

168 – 173 167.5

--
173.5 170.5 𝟏𝟔𝟖 + 𝟏𝟕𝟑
= 𝟏𝟕𝟎. 𝟓
174 – 179 173.5 -- 179.5 176.5 𝟐

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 20

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
STEP 2 Find the frequencies.
Class Frequency Relative
Class Limits Class Boundaries
Midpoints (f) Frequency ( rf )

150 – 155 149.5 – 155.5 152.5 6 0.12

154 – 161 155.5 – 161.5 158.5 3 0.06
162 – 167 161.5 – 167.5 164.5 7 0.14
168 – 173 167.5 – 173.5 170.5 14 0.28
174 – 179 173.5 – 179.5 176.5 20 0.40

n =∑ f = 50 ∑ rf = 1
R𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 = 𝐟/𝐧

𝟔 𝟑 𝟕 𝟏𝟒 𝟐𝟎
= 𝟎. 𝟏𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟔 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟒 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟖 = 𝟎. 𝟒𝟎
𝟓𝟎 𝟓𝟎 𝟓𝟎 𝟓𝟎 𝟓𝟎

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 21

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
STEP 3 Find the cumulative frequency
A cumulative frequency distribution is a distribution that shows the number of
data values less than or equal to a specific value (usually an upper boundary)

Class Frequency Relative Cumulative

Class Limits Class Boundaries Frequency (Cf)
Midpoints (f) Frequency ( rf )

150 – 155 149.5 – 155.5 152.5 6 0.12 0+6 = 6

154 – 161 155.5 – 161.5 158.5 3 0.06 0+6+3 = 9

162 – 167 161.5 – 167.5 164.5 7 0.14 0+6+3+7 = 16

168 – 173 167.5 – 173.5 170.5 14 0.28 0+6+3+7+14 = 30

174 – 179 173.5 – 179.5 176.5 20 0.40 0+6+3+7+14+20 = 50

n =∑ f = 50 ∑ rf = 1 Number of
observations

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 22

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
Try it yourself page 50
The frequency distribution below gives the amount of sugar in mg/l for a sample
of bottled drinks:
Class limits Class Class Frequency Relative Cumulative
boundaries midpoints (f ) Frequency Frequency
) Xm ( (rf) (CF)

3-7 C 5 3 0.075 3
8 - 12 7.5 - 12.5 F 5 0.125 8
A D 15 2 I K
B E 20 8 J 18
23 - 27 22.5 - 27.5 G H 0.35 L
28 - 32 27.5 – 32.5 30 8 0.20 40
Total 40 1

Find the value of A , B , C , D , E ,F, G, H, I, J, K and L.

Solution
A: 13 – 17; B: 18 – 22; C=2.5-7.5, D: 12.5 – 17.5; E: 17.5 – 22.5; F:10; G: 25; H:14; I: 0.05; J: 0.2, K:10; L:32

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 23

2.1 Organizing Data
Grouped Frequency Distribution
Activity
State why the four frequency distribution below are incorrectly constructed:
1) 2) 3) 4)
Class Frequency
Class Frequency Class Frequency Class Frequency
123 - 127 3
27 - 32 4 5- 9 3 9 - 13 3
128 - 132 6
33 - 38 5 9 - 13 6 14 - 19 6
138 - 142 4
39 - 44 6 13 - 17 4 20 -25 4
17 - 20 10 143 - 147 10 26 - 28 10
45 - 49 7
50 - 55 1 20 - 24 8 148 - 152 8 29 - 32 8

Solution

Class width is Classes are overlapped and A class has been Class width is
not uniform the width is not uniform omitted not uniform

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 24

2.1 Organizing Data
Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
▪ Ungrouped frequency distribution is used when the range of
the data values is small. In this case, a single data value is used
for each class.
▪ It is essentially useful in cases of discrete data with just a few
possible values.
▪ It is best when the range of the data is less than 10 units.

Ungrouped Frequency
Distribution

Frequency Relative Cumulative

Class Frequency ( rf ) Frequency (Cf )
(f)

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2.1 Organizing Data
Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
Example 2.7page 54
The quality control department examined 20 engines, which they selected
randomly from a manufacturing company. Data given below, shows the
number of defective circuits per engine:

0 0 0 1 1

2 2 2 2 2

3 3 3 3 4

1 1 2 4 4

Construct an ungrouped frequency distribution?

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 26

2.1 Organizing Data
Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
Solution
▪ Since the range of the data is small (Range = Highest value – lowest value
= 4 – 0 = 4), we summarize data using an ungrouped frequency
distribution.
▪ The frequency distribution of the number of defective circuits by engines
in a batch of twenty engines is given in the table below:

Class Frequency Relative Cumulative

(f) Frequency (rf ) Frequency (CF)
0 3 0.15 =0+3=3
1 4 0.20 = 3 + 4 =7
2 6 0.30 =3+4+6=13
3 4 0.20 17
4 3 0.15 20
∑ n =∑ f = 20 ∑ rf = 1
n = Sample size

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 27

2.1 Organizing Data
Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
Activity page 54

We asked 24 students 5 General Knowledge questions. The number of

correct answer given by each student are shown below:

4 2 3 5 5 4
3 1 5 4 4 3
3 2 3 1 3 2
5 2 1 5 0 2

Construct an Ungrouped frequency distribution for these data

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 28

2.1 Organizing Data
Ungrouped Frequency Distribution
Activity page 54

We asked 24 students 5 General Knowledge questions. The number of

correct answer given by each student are shown below:

4 2 3 5 5 4
3 1 5 4 4 3
3 2 3 1 3 2
5 2 1 5 0 2

Construct an Ungrouped frequency distribution for these data

STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 29

2.1 Organizing Data
Q1: When data are collected in original form, they are
called __________.
A. Frequency
B
B. Raw data
C. Tally
D. Class

Q2: The __________ of a specific class is the number of

data values contained in it.
A
A. Frequency
B. Raw data
C.Tally
D. Class

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2.1 Organizing Data
Q3: Zahra wants to construct a frequency distribution
for the education level of the employees at Aramco
B company. What type of distribution would be best?
A) grouped
B) categorical
C) Both A and B

D) Non of the above

Q4: What are the boundaries of the class 1.87–3.43 ?

A) 1.82–3.48
D
B) 1.87–3.43
C) 1.879–3.439
D) 1.865–3.435
STAT 132 Basic Sciences Department, Science Track 31
2.1 Organizing Data
Q5: What is the midpoint of the class 13–16 ?
A) 1.5
B B) 14.5
C) 3
D) 14

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