FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION Frequency distribution is the tabular arrangement of the given data by using categories or classes and their corresponding frequencies. Class fre- quency is the number of observations or values in a category or class. Example: Consider the following ungrouped or raw data 100 99 106 86 104 113 103 98 105 95 79 101 92 103 91 124 89 100 105 87 110-122 95 118 96 104 108 84 113 99 93 109 102 106 80 116 90 lll 101 115 110 109 78 88 107 114 75 72 127 +102 STEPS IN CONSTRUCTING A FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION 1. Determine the range by finding the difference between the highest and the lowest values in the given set of data, i.e., Range = Highest - Lowest Scores. In the example above, Range = 127 — 72 = 55. 2. Determine the number of categories or classes by dividing the range by the desired number of class size or interval. The usual class intervals are 3, 5 and 10 and the ideal number of classes is from 5 to 20. a. Less than 10 classes are recommended for a data with less than 50 values. b. For a data with 50 to 100 values, the suggested number of classes is from 10 to 14. If data has more than 100 values, it is advisable to use 15 or more classes. Be mindful that few number of classes will have crowded data while very big number of classes will tend to spread out the data. Number of Class = (Range + Class Size) + 1.In the example, Number of Classes (55 +5) + 1= 12. It is an idea] number of classes as suggested, since an interval of 3 gives 19 Classeg and an interval of 10 has 6 classes. Determine the starting point of the class limits by the following: a. Divide the highest value or score by the class interval or size. Take note of the remainder. b. Subtract the highest value by the remainder. This is the startin, point of the class limits. 6 In the example, 127 + 5 = 25 remainder 2. Then, 127 — 2 = 125 ig the starting point or the lower limit of the highest class limit. Write the class limits or intervals in either descending or ascending order. Note that the lower and upper limits of every class interval are included in the class size. In the example, the highest class limit is 125 — 129. Compute the classmark or midpoint (X) of each class interval by getting the average of the upper and lower limits. Midpoint (X) = (upper limit + lower limit) = 2. In the example, the first class limit has a midpoint X= (125 + 129)+2= 127. Tally the scores in their corresponding class limits. Determine the class frequency of each class limit from the tally column and compute the sum N of all the frequencies at the bottom of the fre- quency column. In the example, the highest class limit has frequency of 1 and N= 50. Class Limits/ Midpoint Tally Frequency Intervals “ © 125 - 129 127 1 1 120 — 124 122 I 2 115 - 119 117 m 3 110 - 114 112 ui-1 6 105 - 109 107 w-m 8 100 - 104 102 em 10 95 - 99 97 wae 6 90 - 94 92 m 4 85 -89 87 m 4 80 — 84 82 ll 2 75 - 79 17 W 3 70 — 74 72 ] 1 N=50Graphical Methods of Statistical Data Graphs are pictures of the given numerical data. These are seen in books, periodicals, magazines, news reports, and many others. Graphs may be in the form of frequency polygon, histogram, bar charts, pie charts, ogive, statistical maps, pictographs, and other graphical representations. These graphs summa- rize and simplify any analysis of facts about the data. 1, Frequency Polygon. It is a line graph of class frequencies and midpoints plotted on the vertical and horizontal axes respectively, of a rectangular plane. Steps in making a frequency polygon. a. Draw the first quadrant of the rectangular coordinate system com- pose of the horizontal line or the x-axis and the vertical line or the y-axis, b. Label the x-axis representing the midpoints or class marks while the y-axis represents the frequencies. c. Plot the frequencies against the corresponding midpoints. d. Connect the consecutive points by lines. If necessary, add points at both ends to meet the horizontal axis. 3 ogive” is from the column of the cumulative frequency percentage from the highest to the lowest class limits. its! | Midpoint | Fi Class Limite *). / ma | ofe | cfe% | ch | ch% 125-129 | 127 1 50 | 100 1 2 120 - 124 122 2 49 | 98 3 6 115 - 119 117 3 AT 94 6 12 110 - 114 112 6 44 | 88 | 12 | 24 105 — 109 107 8 38 | 76 | 20 | 40 100 — 104 102 10 30 60 30 60 95-99 97 6 20 | 40 | 36 | 72 90 — 94 92 4 14 28 40 80 85 — 89 87 4 10 20 44 88 80 — 84 82 2 6 12 46 92 75-79 77 3 4 8 49 98 70 — 74 72 1 1 2 50 | 100 N=50 72 77 82 87 92 97 102 107 112 117 122 427 ogive.