Frequency Distribution

Frequency Distribution
It is a systematic arrangement of quantitative variables or data.
It’s either grouped or ungrouped frequency distribution.

Frequency (f)
It is the total number of times each score/s appears in the distribution.

Class Intervals (K)

It is made up of the lower limit and an upper limit.

Lowest class interval

Must contain the lowest score

Highest class interval

Must contain the highest score

Lower Limit (LL)

The left member of the class interval

Upper Limit (UL)

The right member of the class interval

N- The sum of the frequencies is equal to the total number of raw data.

𝒊 or c- class size or class width of class interval

-the constant size throughout the distribution

Class Midpoint or Class Mark (𝒙𝒎 )

It is the sum of lower limit and upper limit divided by 2.

𝐿𝐿 + 𝑈𝐿
𝑥𝑚 =
2

Class Boundary or True Limit

It is the score plus or minus one half of the unit of measure of the place value of the given
score.

Relative frequency %𝒇 or rf
It shows proportion in percent of the frequency of each class to the total frequency.
Computed by dividing the class frequency (f) by the sample size “n” and multiply the result by
100.
𝑓
%𝑓 = 𝑥100
𝑛

Cumulative frequency
-the number of observations that lie above (or greater than) or below (less than) a class
boundary.

2 Types of Cumulative Frequency

1. Less than cumulative frequency (< 𝒄𝒇)
Obtained when successive frequencies are added from the smallest to largest class
intervals.
2. Greater than cumulative frequency (> 𝒄𝒇)
Obtained when successive frequencies are added from the largest to the smallest class
intervals.

Construction of a Frequency Distribution

1. Get the Range (R)

Formula: 𝑅 =𝐻−𝐿 (Highest score – Lowest score)

2. Decide on the number of class intervals (K)

Formula: 𝐾 = √𝑁

3. Divide the Range by the number of classes to get the class size 𝑖 or 𝑐.
𝑅
Formula: 𝑖=𝐾
4. Choose an appropriate Lower Limit (LL) for the first class interval.
Choose a number equal to or less than the lowest observed value that is divisible by the
class size (𝑖).
5. Determine the upper limit (UL) of the lowest class interval.
6. Determine the rest of the class intervals by adding the value of class size (𝑖).
7. Using the tally column, get the sum of the frequencies.
8. Compute the distribution.
Construct a frequency distribution using the result of examination of 50 biology students in
Statistics Quiz:
45 89 32 67 51 60 70 65 72 70
75 55 50 75 65 49 58 71 87 73
63 93 75 75 43 76 73 85 64 45
35 78 54 65 59 55 89 85 40 82
51 58 35 48 55 97 67 56 70 55

1. Range
𝑅 =𝐻−𝐿
= 97 − 32
𝑅 = 65

2. Class Interval
𝐾 = √𝑁
= √50
= 7.07
𝐾=7 the minimum number of class intervals
3. Class Size
𝑅 65
𝑖= = = 9.29 = 9
𝐾 7
4. Lower limit of the lowest class interval
𝐿𝐿 =should be divisible by class size and its either equal to or less than the lowest score
𝐿𝐿 = 27
❖ Note! If it is not divisible by the class
size, automatically that the lower
limit is the lowest score.
5. Upper Limit of the lowest class interval
𝑈𝐿 = 𝐿𝐿 + 𝑖 − 1
= 27 + 9 − 1
𝑈𝐿 = 35
 Classes Tally 𝑓 𝑋𝑚 Class Boundaries %𝑓 > 𝑐𝑓 < 𝑐𝑓
90 − 98 II 2 94 89.5 − 98.5 4 2 50
81 − 89 IIIII-I 6 85 80.5 − 89.5 12 8 48
72 − 80 IIIII-IIII 9 76 71.5 − 80.5 18 17 42
63 − 71 IIIII-IIIII-I 11 67 62.5 − 71.5 22 28 33
54 − 62 IIIII-IIIII 10 58 53.5 − 62.5 20 38 22
45 − 53 IIIII-II 7 49 44.5 − 53.5 14 45 12
36 − 44 II 2 40 35.5 − 44.5 4 47 5
27 − 35 III 3 31 26.5 − 35.5 6 50 3
𝑖=9 𝑁 = 50

Sample interpretation for Relative Frequency and Cumulative Frequency

*%𝒇
22% of the biology students got scores ranging from 63 − 71
*> 𝒄𝒇
2 biology students obtained scores greater than 89.5
*< 𝒄𝒇
50 biology students obtained scores less than 98.5
 Graphical Presentation of Frequency Distribution

Histogram
It is a bar graph consists of a set of rectangular bars.
Frequency (y-axis) and Class Midpoints(x-axis)

Frequency Polygon
It is a line curve constructed.
Frequency (y-axis) and Class Midpoints(x-axis)

Ogive
The graph of cumulative frequency distribution.
Class boundaries (x-axis) and cumulative frequencies (y-axis)

Histogram
12

10

8
Frequency

0
31 40 49 58 67 76 85 94
Class Midpoint
 Frequency Polygon
12

10

8
Frequency

0
31 40 49 58 67 76 85 94
Class Midpoint

Ogive
60
Cumulative Frequency

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Class Boundaries

Series1 Series2