Lecture 9

Descriptive Statistics:
Tabular and Graphical Methods
Summarizing Qualitative Data
Summarizing Quantitative Data
Summarizing Qualitative Data

Frequency Distribution
Relative Frequency
Percent Frequency Distribution
Bar Graph
Pie Chart
Frequency Distribution

• A frequency distribution is a tabular summary of

data showing the frequency (or number) of items in
each of several non overlapping classes.

• The objective is to provide insights about the data

that cannot be quickly obtained by looking only at
the original data.
 Example:
Students grades average of dentistry college were as rated
according to the rates as being excellent,
above average, average, below average, or poor. The
ratings provided by a sample of 20 Students are shown
below.

Below Average Average Above Average

Above Average Above Average Above Average Above Average
Below Average Below Average Average Poor
Poor Above Average Excellent Above Average
Average Above Average Average
Above Average Average
Example:
• Frequency Distribution

Rating Frequency
Poor 2
Below Average 3
Average 5
Above Average 9
Excellent 1
Total 20
Relative Frequency Distribution

The relative frequency of a class is the fraction or

proportion of the total number of data items belonging
to the class.

A relative frequency distribution is a tabular summary

of a set of data showing the relative frequency for
each class.
 Percent Frequency Distribution

The percent frequency of a class is the relative frequency

multiplied by 100.

A percent frequency distribution is a tabular summary of

a set of data showing the percent frequency for each
class.
Example:

Relative Frequency and Percent Frequency Distributions

Relative Percent
Rating Frequency Frequency

Poor .10 10
Below Average .15 15
Average .25 25
Above Average .45 45
Excellent .05 5
Total 1.00 100
Bar Graph

A bar graph is a graphical device for depicting

qualitative data.
On the horizontal axis we specify the labels that are
used for each of the classes.
A frequency, relative frequency, or percent frequency
scale can be used for the vertical axis.
Using a bar of fixed width drawn above each class
label, we extend the height appropriately.
The bars are separated to emphasize the fact that each
class is a separate category.
Bar Graph

9
8
7
Frequency

6
5
4
3
2
1
Rating
Poor Below Average Above Excellent
Average Average
Pie Chart

The pie chart is a commonly used graphical device for

presenting relative frequency distributions for
qualitative data.
First draw a circle; then use the relative frequencies to
subdivide the circle into sectors that correspond to the
relative frequency for each class.
Since there are 360 degrees in a circle, a class with a
relative frequency of .25 would consume .25(360) =
90 degrees of the circle.
Example:
Pie Chart
Summarizing Quantitative
Data
Frequency Distribution
Relative Frequency and Percent Frequency
Distributions
Dot Plot
Histogram
Cumulative Distributions
Ogive
Example:

91 78 93 57 75 52 99 80 97 62
71 69 72 89 66 75 79 75 72 76
104 74 62 68 97 105 77 65 80 109
85 97 88 68 83 68 71 69 67 74
62 82 98 101 79 105 79 69 62 73
Frequency Distribution

• Guidelines for Selecting Number of Classes

Use between 5 and 10 classes.
Data sets with a larger number of elements
usually require a larger number of classes.
Smaller data sets usually require fewer classes.
Frequency Distribution
Guidelines for Selecting Width of Classes
Use classes of equal width.
Approximate Class Width =
Largest Data Value  Smallest Data Value
Number of Classes
Example:

• Frequency Distribution
If we choose six classes:
Approximate Class Width = (109 - 52)/6 = 9.5 10
Cost ($) Frequency
50-59 2
60-69 13
70-79 16
80-89 7
90-99 7
100-109 5
Total 50
Example:

Relative Frequency and Percent Frequency Distributions

Relative Percent
Cost ($) Frequency Frequency
50-59 .04 4
60-69 .26 26
70-79 .32 32
80-89 .14 14
90-99 .14 14
100-109 .10 10
Total 1.00 100
Dot Plot

• One of the simplest graphical summaries of data is a

dot plot.

• A horizontal axis shows the range of data values.

• Then each data value is represented by a dot placed

above the axis.
Dot Plot

.. .. . . ..
. .. .. .. ..
. . . ..... .......... .. . .. . . ... . .
.. .
50 60 70 80 90 100 110

Cost ($)

91 78 93 57 75 52 99 80 97 62
71 69 72 89 66 75 79 75 72 76
104 74 62 68 97 105 77 65 80 109
85 97 88 68 83 68 71 69 67 74
62 82 98 101 79 105 79 69 62 73
Histogram

Another common graphical presentation of

quantitative data is a histogram.
The variable of interest is placed on the horizontal
axis.
A rectangle is drawn above each class interval with
its height corresponding to the interval’s
frequency, relative frequency, or percent
frequency.
Unlike a bar graph, a histogram has no natural
separation between rectangles of adjacent classes.
Example: Histogram
18
16
14
Frequency

12
10
8
6
4
2
Parts
Cost ($)
50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Frequency Polygons
A frequency polygon is another type of
frequency distribution graph. 
A graph made by joining the middle-top
points of the columns of a frequency
histogram.
In a frequency polygon, the number of
observations is marked with a single
point at the midpoint of an interval.  A
straight line then connects each set of
points.  Frequency polygons make it
easy to compare two or more
distributions on the same set of axes
Types of Graphs

• Frequency Polygon – like

the histogram, displays
the frequency of each
number or score. The
only differences between
these two graphs are the
use of bars in the
histogram and the use of
connected dots in the
frequency polygon.
Method of Constructing a Frequency
Polygon with the Help of a
Histogram
• Step I: Draw the histogram for the frequency distribution
• Step II: Locate the midpoint of the top horizontal side of each
rectangle in the histogram.
• Step III: Locate the middle points on the horizontal axis of
two imaginary intervals of common size, one before the first
class interval and the other after the last class interval.
• Step IV: Join all the above midpoints by line segments one
after the other in order
Frequency Polygon
 Cumulative Distributions
• Cumulative frequency distribution -- shows the number of items
with values less than or equal to the upper limit of each class.

• Cumulative relative frequency distribution -- shows the

proportion of items with values less than or equal to the upper
limit of each class.

• Cumulative percent frequency distribution -- shows the

percentage of items with values less than or equal to the upper
limit of each class.
 Example:
Cumulative Distributions
Cumulative Cumulative
Cumulative Relative Percent
Cost ($) Frequency Frequency Frequency
< 59 2 .04 4
< 69 15 .30 30
< 79 31 .62 62
< 89 38 .76 76
< 99 45 .90 90
< 109 50 1.00 100
Ogive: cumulative frequencies

An ogive is a graph of a cumulative distribution.

The data values are shown on the horizontal axis.
Shown on the vertical axis are the:
cumulative frequencies, or
cumulative relative frequencies, or
cumulative percent frequencies
The frequency (one of the above) of each class is
plotted as a point.
The plotted points are connected by straight lines.
Example:

Ogive
Because the class limits for the parts-cost data are
50-59, 60-69, and so on, there appear to be one-
unit gaps from 59 to 60, 69 to 70, and so on.
These gaps are eliminated by plotting points
halfway between the class limits.
Thus, 59.5 is used for the 50-59 class, 69.5 is used
for the 60-69 class, and so on.
 Ogive with Cumulative Percent Frequencies
Cumulative Percent Frequency

100

80

60

40

20
Parts
Cost ($)
50 60 70 80 90 100 110
 Tabular and Graphical Procedures
Data
Qualitative Data Quantitative Data

Tabular Graphical Tabular Graphical

Methods Methods Methods Methods

•Frequency
•Frequency •Bar Graph •Dot Plot
•Pie Chart Distribution
Distribution •Histogram
•Rel. Freq. Dist.
•Rel. Freq. Dist. •Ogive
•Cum. Freq. Dist.
•% Freq. Dist.
•Cum. Rel. Freq.
Distribution