Chapter 2: Organization of
Information:
Frequency Distributions
Frequency Distributions
Proportions and Percentages
Percentage Distributions
Comparisons
The Construction of Frequency Distributions
Frequency Distributions for Nominal Variables
Frequency Distributions for Ordinal Variables
Frequency Distributions for Interval-Ratio Variables
Cumulative Distributions
Rates
Reading the Research Literature
Basic Principles
Tables with a Different Format
Frequency Distributions
A table reporting the number of observations
falling into each category of the variable.
Identity
Frequency (f)
Native American
947,500
Native American of multiple ancestry
269,700
Native American of Indian descent 5,537,600
Total (N)
6,754,800
Death Penalty Statutes
In 1993, 36 states and Washington, D.C. had
statutes permitting capital punishment. Of these
36 states, 27 set a minimum age for execution.
Assume you are a member of a legal reform
group that is trying to get the states that do not
have a minimum age for execution to change
their laws. You want to prepare a report
describing the minimum age for execution in the
27 states have an established minimum age for
execution. (The data are on the following slides.)
Death Penalty Statutes
State
Minimum
Age
State
Minimum
Age
Arkansas
Virginia
14
15
Texas
California
17
18
Alabama
16
Colorado
18
Delaware
Indiana
16
16
Connecticut
Illinois
18
18
Kentucky
16
Louisiana
18
Mississippi
Missouri
16
16
Maryland
Nebraska
18
18
Nevada
Oklahoma
16
16
New Jersey
New Mexico
18
18
Wyoming
16
Ohio
18
Georgia
New Hampshire
17
17
Oregon
Tennessee
18
18
North Carolina
17
Source: Kathleen Maguire and Ann L. Pastore, eds., Sourcebook of Criminal
Justice Statistics. 1994. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
Statistics. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1995, pp.
115-116.
Creating a Frequency Distribution
Minimum Age TallyFrequency
14 | 1
15 | 1
9
16 |||||||||
17 |||| 4
18 ||||||||||||
12
Total N 27
Creating a Frequency Distribution
Minimum Age
14 1
15 1
16 9
17 4
18 12
Total N27
Frequency
Proportions and Percentages
Proportion (P): a relative frequency
obtained by dividing the frequency in
each category by the total number of
cases.
Percentage (%): a relative frequency
obtained by dividing the frequency in
each category by the total number of
cases and multiplying by 100.
N: total number of cases
Proportions and percentages are
relative frequencies
f
P
N
(%) P (100)
Proportions and Percentages
Minimum Age
Frequency
Percentage
14 1 1/27=.037
3.7
15 1 .037 3.7
16 9 .333 33.3
17 4 .148 14.8
18 12 .444 44.4
Total N 27 1.0 100.0
Proportion
Percentage Distributions
A table showing the percentage of observations
falling into each category of the variable.
Minimum
Age
Frequency
Percentage
4
1
3.7
15
1
3.7
16
9
33.3
17
4
14.8
18
12
44.4
Total N
27
100.0
Frequency Distributions for
Nominal Variables
Gender Tallies
Freq. (f)Percentage
Male
|||||||||||||||
15 37.5
Female ||||||||||||||||||||||||| 25 62.5
Total (N)
40
100.0
Note: The categories for nominal variables (male,
female) need not be listed in any particular
order.
Frequency Distributions for
Ordinal Variables
Happiness Tallies Freq. (f) Percentage
Very Happy
|||||||||
9
22.5
Pretty Happy ||||||||||||||||||||||||| 25 62.5
Not too happy ||||||
6
15.0
Total (N)
40
100.0
Note: Because the categories or values of ordinal variables are
rank- ordered, they must be listed in a way that reflects their
rank from the lowest to the highest or from the highest to the
lowest.
Employment Status Example
Employment Status Example
Frequency Distributions for
Interval-Ratio Variables
Number of Children
0
5
1
10
2
10
3
5
4
5
5
1
6
2
7 or more
2
(N)
40
Freq. (f) Percentage
12.5
25.0
25.0
12.5
12.5
2.5
5.0
5.0
100.0
Total
Cumulative Distributions
Sometimes we are interested in locating the
relative position of a given score in a distribution.
Cumulative frequency distribution: a
distribution showing the frequency at or below
each category (class interval or score) of the
variable.
Cumulative percentage distribution: a
distribution showing the percentage at or below
each category (class interval or score) of the
variable.
Cumulative Frequency
Distribution
Minimum
Age Freq. (f) Percentage
14
1
3.7 1
15
1
3.7 2
16
9
33.3
11
17
4
14.8
15
18
12
44.4
27
Total (N) 27
100.0
* Doesnt total to 100% due to rounding
Cumulative
Frequency
Cumulative Percentage Distribution
Minimum
Age
Percentage
Frequency
Cumulative
Percentage
14 1 3.7 3.7
15 1 3.7 7.4
16 9 33.3 40.7
17 4 14.8 55.5
18 12 44.4 99.9*
Total N 27 100.0
* Does not total to 100% due to rounding
Rates
A number obtained by dividing the number of
actual occurrences in a given time period by the
number of possible occurrences.
Whats the problem with the rate
computation below?
Marriage rate, 1990 = Number of marriages in 1990
Total population in 1990
Marriage rate, 1990 = 2,448,000 marriages
250,000,000 Americans
Marriage rate, 1990= .0098
Reading Statistical Tables
Basic principles for understanding what the
researcher is trying to tell you:
What is the source of the table?
How many variables are presented? What
are their names?
What is represented by the numbers
presented in the first column? In the second
column?