CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY

DISTRIBUTION

BIOSTATISTICS
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Cumulative Frequency
Cumulative frequency is the total of a frequency and all frequencies in
a frequency distribution until a certain defined class interval. The
running total of frequencies starting from the first frequency till the
end frequency is the cumulative frequency. The total and the data are
shown in the form of a table where the frequencies are divided
according to class intervals.

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Definition of Cumulative Frequency
In statistics, the frequency of the first-class interval is added to the
frequency of the second class, and this sum is added to the third class
and so on then, frequencies that are obtained this way are known as
cumulative frequency (c.f.). A table that displays the cumulative
frequencies that are distributed over various classes is called a
cumulative frequency distribution or cumulative frequency table.
There are two types of cumulative frequency - lesser than type and
greater than type. Cumulative frequency is used to know the number
of observations that lie above (or below) a particular frequency in a
given data set.

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PRESENTATION TITLE Example 1: Robert is the sales manager of a toy company. On checking his quarterly sales record, he can
observe that by the month of April, a total of 83 toy cars were sold.

Total number of toy cars

Number of toy cars sold
Month sold (Cumulative
(Frequency)
Frequency)

January 20 20

February 30 20 + 30 = 50

March 15 50 + 15 = 65

April 18 65 + 18 = 83

Note how the last cumulative total will always be equal to the total for all observations since all
frequencies will already have been added to the previous total. Here, 83=20+30+15+18

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PRESENTATION TITLE Example 2: A Major League Baseball team records its home runs in the 2020 session as given below.

Match f (home runs) cf (cumulative total)

Qualifying match 11 11

Quarterfinal match 8 11 + 8 = 19

Semifinal 10 19 + 10 = 29

Final 7 29 + 7 = 36

From the above table, it can be observed that the team made 29 home runs before playing in the finals.

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Example: During a 20-day long skiing competition, the snow depth at Snow Mountain was
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measured (to the nearest cm) for each of the 20 days. The records are as follows: 301, 312,
319, 354, 359, 345, 348, 341, 347, 344, 349, 350, 325,323, 324, 328,322, 332, 334, 337.
Solution:
Given measurements of snow depths are: 301, 312, 319, 354, 359, 345, 348, 341, 347, 344,
349, 350, 325,323, 324, 328,322, 332, 334, 337
Step 1: The snow depth measurements range from 301 cm to 359 cm. To produce the
frequency distribution table, the data can be grouped in class intervals of 10 cm each.
In the Snow depth column, each 10-cm class interval from 300 cm to 360 cm is listed.
Step 2: The frequency column will record the number of observations that fall within a
particular interval. The tally column will represent the observations only in numerical form.
Step 3: The endpoint is the highest number in the interval, regardless of the actual value of
each observation.
For example, in the class interval of 311-320, the actual value of the two observations is 312
and 319. But, instead of using 319, the endpoint of 320 is used.
Step
7 4: The cumulative frequency column lists the total of each frequency added to its
predecessor.
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Using the same steps mentioned above, a cumulative frequency distribution table can be made as:

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 Types of Cumulative Frequency
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Cumulative frequency is the total frequencies showcased in the form of a table

distributed in class intervals. There are two types of cumulative frequency i.e. lesser
than and greater than.

Lesser Than Cumulative Frequency

Lesser than cumulative frequency is obtained by adding successively the frequencies
of all the previous classes including the class against which it is written. The cumulate
starts from the lowest to the highest size. In other words, when the number of
observations is less than the upper boundary of a class that's when it is called lesser
than cumulative frequency.
The Less than cumulative frequency distribution is obtained by adding successively
the frequencies of all the previous classes along with the class against which it is
written. In this type, the cumulate begins from the lowest to the highest size.
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Number of
Level of Age Group Cumulative
Essay (class interval) Age group participants Frequency
(Frequency)

Level 1 10-15 Less than 15 20 20

Level 2 15-20 Less than 20 32 52

Level 3 20-25 Less than 25 18 70

Level 4 25-30 Less than 30 30 100

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Greater Than Cumulative Frequency

Greater than cumulative frequency is obtained by finding the cumulative total
of frequencies starting from the highest to the lowest class. It is also called
more than type cumulative frequency. In other words, when the number of
observations is more than or equal to the lower boundary of the class that's
when it is called greater than cumulative frequency.
The greater than cumulative frequency is also known as the more than type
cumulative frequency. Here, the greater than cumulative frequency distribution
is obtained by determining the cumulative total frequencies starting from the
highest class to the lowest class.

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Number of
Level of Age Group Cumulative
Age group participants
Essay (class interval) (Frequency) Frequency

More than
Level 1 10-30 10 20 100

More than
Level 2 15-30 15 32 80

More than
Level 3 20-30 18 48
20

More than
Level 4 25-30 25 30 30
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Example: The following frequency distribution of the weekly wages of the given number of workers.

Weekly wages No. of workers

0-20 4
20-40 5

40-60 6

60-80 3

Weekly wages No. of workers C.F. (Less than) C.F. (More than)

0-20 4 4 18 (total)

20-40 5 9 (4 + 5) 14 (18 - 4)

40-60 6 15 (9 + 6) 9 (14 - 5)

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60-80 3 18 (15 + 3) 3 (9 - 6)
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Constructing a Cumulative Frequency Distribution Table

A cumulative frequency table is a simple visual representation of
the cumulative frequencies for different values or categories. To
construct a cumulative frequency distribution table, there are a few
steps that can be followed which makes it simple to construct.

•Step 1: Use the continuous variables to set up a frequency

distribution table using a suitable class length.
•Step 2: Find the frequency for each class interval.
•Step 3: Locate the endpoint for each class interval (upper limit or
lower limit).
•Step 4: Calculate the cumulative frequency by adding the numbers
in the frequency column.
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•Step 5: Record all results in the table.
 Less than C.F More than C.F
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Class
Class Limit f Marks C.F Marks C.F
Boundaries

10 – 19 2 9.5 – 19.5 Less than 19.5 2 9.5 or more 48 + 2 = 50

20 – 29 4 19.5 – 29.5 Less than 29.5 2+4=6 19.5 or more 44 + 4 = 48

30 – 39 7 29.5 – 39.5 Less than 39.5 6 + 7 = 13 29.5 or more 37 + 7 = 44

40 – 49 10 39.5 – 49.5 Less than 49.5 13 + 10 = 23 39.5 or more 27 + 10 = 37

50 – 59 16 49.5 – 59.5 Less than 59.5 23 + 16 = 39 49.5 or more 11 + 16 = 27

60 – 69 8 59.5 – 69.5 Less than 69.5 39 + 8 = 47 59.5 or more 3 + 8 = 11

70 – 79 3 69.5 – 79.5 Less than 79.5 47 + 3 = 50 69.5 or more 3

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Relative frequency
A relative frequency distribution is the proportion or fraction of times a value
occurs in a data set. To find the relative frequencies, one can divide each
frequency by the total number of data points in the sample. It is very similar
to a regular frequency distribution, except that instead of reporting how many
data values fall in a class, a relative frequency distribution reports the fraction
of data values that fall in a class. These fractions or proportions are called
relative frequencies and can be given as fractions, decimals, or percents.
Relative Frequency is the frequency of an observation with respect to the total
number of observations. The relative frequency of an object is calculated by
using the formula Relative frequency = f/n where f is the frequency of an
observation and n is the total frequency of the observation of the data set.

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 Relative Frequency Definition
Relative Frequency is an extension of frequency where each frequency is represented
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relative to all the present frequencies of different quantities.

Frequency in mathematics represents the actual occurrence of quantities whereas
relative frequency represents the occurrence of quantities relative to each other.
Suppose if we have a term with frequency f and the total frequency of all the
observation is n, then the relative frequency of the given observation is f/n.
Relative Frequency Formula
Relative frequency formula is the formula that is used to find the relative frequency of
any given statistical data. We know that relative frequency is defined as the number of
times a event occur divided by the ratio of the total event in that case.

Relative Frequency = Subgroup Count / Total Count

Relative Frequency = f/n

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Where: f is Frequency of an Observation, n is Total Frequency
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Steps to Calculate Relative Frequency

To calculate the relative frequency of an object we follow the steps
added below,

Step 1: Study the given table and find the frequency of the term of
which relative frequency we have to found.

Step 2: Find the total frequency of all the terms from the table.

Step 3: Divide the Frequecny of Single Term with the total frequency
of all the object to get the required relative frequency.

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The weight of 30 students of a class

Weight (in Kg) Frequency Relative Frequency

50-55 9 9/30 = 0.3

55-60 7 7/30 = 0.2333

60-65 6 6/30 = 0.2

65-70 2 2/30 = 0.066

70-75 6 6/30 = 0.2

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