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Frequency Polygon

Uploaded by

ebala-scott
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Math 2201 Date:_________________________

5.2 Frequency Tables, Histograms and Frequency Polygons

Frequency distribution is a set of intervals that can be displayed in three forms: a table, a
histogram and a frequency polygon. Histograms and frequency polygons provide a
pictorial representation of the data. This provides an opportunity for people to draw
conclusions and make inferences from the data. Frequency polygons are especially helpful
when comparing multiple sets of data because they can be graphed on top of each other.

Frequency Distribution: a set of intervals, table or graph, usually of equal width, into
which raw data is organized; each interval is associated with a frequency that indicates the
number of measurements in the interval.

Example 1:
The following frequency distribution was for a set of Math 2201 test scores.

(A) How many students failed the test?

(B) How many students passed the test?

(C) How many students scored above 60%?


Histogram: the graph of a frequency distribution, in which equal intervals associated with
these intervals are indicated by the area of the rectangles drawn for these intervals.

Consider the following graph:


The first bar in this graph begins at 60
on the horizontal axis and ends at 65.
The second bar starts where the first
bar ends, namely 65-70. As the
intervals are required to be
non-overlapping, the convention is
that the lower limit of each interval
includes the number. For example, in
the graph to the right, the data value 65
would be placed in the 65 - 70 interval.

Note: the book explains this differently.

Histogram vs. Bar Graph


Histograms and bar graphs are not the same thing, although many people confuse them.

Histogram Bar Graph

 no gaps between bars  gaps between bars


 continuous data  discrete data
Example 2:
Answer the following questions based on the histogram shown.

(A) For how many years is the water flow between


1500 − 1950 m3 /s?

(B) For how many years is the water flow between


2850 − 3300 m3 /s?

Frequency polygon: The graph of a frequency distribution, produced by joining the


midpoints of the intervals using straight lines.

To plot each vertex for the frequency polygon, students can determine the midpoint of the
interval and then join the vertices with line segments. Be sure to connect the endpoints to
the horizontal axis.

Example 3:
Consider the histogram example from above. By connecting the midpoints of each bar, we
can create the corresponding frequency polygon.
Example 4:
Consider the histogram along with the corresponding frequency polygon. Explain how the
frequency polygon was obtained using the histogram.

Example 5:
Choose an attribute common to all students. For example, the number of siblings, number
of weekly text messages sent or received, numbers of hours watching television, etc. Collect
the data from the class, select an appropriate bin size and display the information in a
frequency table. Construct a histogram of the data and then describe the data distribution.
Your turn:
1. The marks awarded for an assignment for a Grade 11 class of 20 students are given
below. Present this information in a frequency table and display the data on a
histogram. Describe how the data is distributed.

2. Which of the distribution of scores has the larger dispersion? Justify your reasoning.

Textbook Questions: page 249 - 251, #2, 3, 6

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