Chapter 2
Describing Data:
Frequency Tables, Frequency
Distributions, and Graphic
Presentation
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Make a frequency table for a set of data.
2. Organize data into a bar chart.
3. Present a set of data in a pie chart.
4. Create a frequency distribution for a data set.
5. Understand a relative frequency distribution.
6. Present data from a frequency distribution in a
histogram or frequency polygon.
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Describing Data with Charts, LO1 Make a frequency table
for a set of data
Tables and Graphs - Example
The Applewood Auto Group (AAG)sells a wide range of
vehicles through its four dealerships. Ms. Kathryn Ball, a
member of the senior management team at AAG, is
responsible for tracking and analyzing vehicle sales and the
profitability of those vehicles. Kathryn would like to summarize
the profit earned on the vehicles sold with tables, charts, and
graphs that she would review monthly. She wants to know the
profit per vehicle sold, as well as the lowest and highest
amount of profit. She is also interested in describing the
demographics of the buyers. What are their ages? How many
vehicles have they previously purchased from one of the
Applewood dealerships? What type of vehicle did they
purchase? Partial data for 180 customers are shown on the
table on the right.
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Frequency Table LO2
FREQUENCY TABLE A grouping of qualitative data into mutually
exclusive classes showing the number of observations in each
class.
TABLE 2–1 Frequency Table for Vehicles Sold Last Month at
Applewood Auto Group by Location
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Bar Charts LO2 Organize data into a bar
chart
BAR CHART A graph in which the classes are reported on the horizontal
axis and the class frequencies on the vertical axis. The class frequencies
are proportional to the heights of the bars.
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LO3 Present a set of data in
Pie Charts a pie chart.
PIE CHART A chart that shows the proportion or percent that
each class represents of the total number of frequencies.
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Pie Chart Using Excel LO3
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Frequency Distribution LO4 Create a frequency
distribution for a data set.
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION A grouping of data into mutually
exclusive classes showing the number of observations in each
class.
TABLE 2–1 Frequency Table for Vehicles Sold Last Month at
Applewood Auto Group by Location
2-8
Bar Chart and Pie Chart Example LO2 and LO3
[Link] is test marketing its new
website and is interested in how easy its
Web page design is to navigate. It randomly
selected 200 regular Internet users and
asked them to perform a search task on the
Web page. Each person was asked to rate
the relative ease of navigation as poor,
good, excellent, or awesome. The results
are shown in the table on the right.
1. What type of measurement scale is used for
ease of navigation?
2. Draw a bar chart for the survey results.
3. Draw a pie chart for the survey results.
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LO2 and LO3
Bar Chart and Pie Chart
Example – Ski [Link]
1. What type of measurement scale is
used for ease of navigation?
2. Draw a bar chart for the survey
results.
3. Draw a pie chart for the survey
results.
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LO5 Understand a relative
Relative Class Frequencies frequency distribution.
• Class frequencies can be converted to relative class
frequencies to show the fraction of the total number of
observations in each class.
• A relative frequency captures the relationship between a
class total and the total number of observations.
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Frequency Distribution LO5
Class interval: The class
interval is obtained by
subtracting the lower limit of
a class from the lower limit of
the next class.
Class frequency: The number
of observations in each class.
Class midpoint: A point that
divides a class into two equal
parts. This is the average of
the upper and lower class
limits.
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EXAMPLE – Creating a Frequency
Distribution Table LO6 Present data from a frequency
distribution in a histogram or
Kathryn Ball of the Applewood Auto
Group wants to develop tables, charts,
frequency polygon.
and graphs to show the typical profit for
each sale. Table 2–4 reports the profit
on each of the 180 vehicles sold last
month at the four Applewood locations.
§What is the typical profit on each
sale?
§What is the largest profit on any sale?
§What is the lowest profit on any sale?
§Around what value did the profits tend
to cluster?
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Constructing a Frequency Table - Example LO6
• Step 1: Decide on the number of classes.
A useful recipe to determine the number of classes (k) is the “2 to the k
rule.” such that 2k > n.
There were 180 vehicles sold, so n = 180. If we try k = 7, then 27 = 128, somewhat
less than 180. Hence, 7 is not enough classes. If we let k = 8, then 28 = 256, which is
greater than 180. So the recommended number of classes is 8.
• Step 2: Determine the class interval or width.
The formula is: i ³ (H-L)/k where i is the class interval, H is the highest
observed value, L is the lowest observed value, and k is the number of
classes.
Round up to some convenient number, such as a multiple of 10 or 100. Use a
class width of $400
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Constructing a Frequency Table - Example LO6
• Step 3: Set the individual class limits
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Constructing a Frequency Table LO6
• Step 4: Tally the vehicle
profits into the classes.
• Step 5: Count the
number of items in
each class.
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Relative Frequency Distribution LO6
To convert a frequency distribution to a relative frequency
distribution, each of the class frequencies is divided by the total
number of observations.
TABLE 2–8 Relative Frequency Distribution of Profit for Vehicles Sold Last Month at
Applewood Auto Group
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Graphic Presentation of a Frequency Distribution LO6
The three commonly used
graphic forms are:
• Histograms
• Frequency polygons
• Cumulative frequency
distributions
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Histogram LO6
HISTOGRAM A graph in which the classes are marked on the horizontal
axis and the class frequencies on the vertical axis. The class frequencies
are represented by the heights of the bars and the bars are drawn
adjacent to each other.
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Frequency LO6
Polygon
• A frequency polygon,
similar to a histogram, also
shows the shape of a
distribution
• It consists of line segments
connecting the class
midpoints of the class
frequencies.
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Histogram Versus Frequency Polygon LO6
• Both provide a quick picture of
the main characteristics of the
data (highs, lows, points of
concentration, etc.)
• Advantage of the histogram – it
depicts each class as a rectangle,
with the height of the
rectangular bar representing the
number in each class.
• Advantage of the frequency
polygon - it allows us to compare
directly two or more frequency
distributions.
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Cumulative Frequency Distribution LO6
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Cumulative Frequency Distribution LO6
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