CUMMULATIVE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION

I. Ranked Distributions
 
         Frequency distributions organize Raw Data or numbers that have been
collected. The first step in the process of organizing your newly collected raw data is to
generate a Ranked Distribution. Ranked distributions simply rank order all of the
numbers of your raw data.
 
         The following are examples scores for 20 students on the first examination:
 
51  98  55  71  87  82  83  55  90  65  76  90  71  82  97  67  99  71  88 
59                         
 
          To create a Ranked Distribution rearrange the data from the highest number
to the lowest.
 
         The following are the same scores as above but in a ranked distribution:
 
     99  98  97  90  90  88  87  83  82  82  76  71  71  71  67  65  59  55  55  51 
 

II. Frequency Distributions

 
           Simple Frequency Distributions are created by listing all the possible score
values in any distribution and then indicating the frequency (how often each score
occurs). Frequency Distributions are useful only if they simplify the data. The table
below shows the raw data from the above example in a Frequency Distribution:
      
Frequenc
Grade Score
y
  99 1
  98 1
  87 1
A 90 2
  88 1
  87 1
  83 1
B 82 2
  76 1
C 71 3
  67 1
D 65 1

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 F 59 1
  55 2
  51 1
     
Total   20
        
            Notice that there are 2 scores of 90 and 3 scores of 71 in the original data set
above. These values are represented as a frequency of 2 and 3 respectively in the
Frequency Distribution. Notice also that the total frequency at the bottom (20) is the
same number as the number of raw data data points you have.
 

III. Grouped Frequency Distributions

 
         When you have a high amount of unique scores  you should generate a
Grouped Frequency Distribution. In a grouped frequency distribution raw data are
combined into equalized groups called class intervals. The grouped frequency
distribution gives you the whole picture at a glance.
 
Frequenc
Grade Group
y
A 90-99 5
B 80-89 5
C 70-79 4
D 60-69 2
F 50-59 4
     
Total   20
 
 Constructing the Class Intervals

            Construction of your class intervals is largely dependent on the type of data

you are working with. When dealing with grade data as above then class interval sizes
of 10 and a total of 5 intervals works best. For most data there are several different
ways that you could construct your class intervals and no one is necessarily better than
another. There are some general rules about class intervals that make the data easier
to understand. Good interval size numbers are multiples of 2, 5, or 10. Generally
speaking, interval sizes should be between 10 and 20. Less than 10 results in loss of
information about the original data and more than 20 is difficult to comprehend. The
number of class intervals should reside somewhere between 5 and 20. You can
calculate the number of intervals and interval size that would be best for any set of
data.
 

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            To determine the number of intervals needed you first need to compute the
range of your data:
 
                           Range    = high score – low score
                           For our original data:
                                         = 99 – 51
                             Range = 48
 
            The second step is to select an interval size (i). Let's say you select an
interval size of 5. Use the formula below to calculate the number of intervals you should
use.

        number of intervals    ~ range/i  (interval size)

                                            ~ 48/5
                                            ~ 9.6 or rounded to 10

so we can use 10 intervals with a class interval size of 5 to represent our data:

Interval Frequency
95-99 3
90-94 2
85-89 2
80-74 3
75-79 1
70-74 3
65-69 2
60-64 0
55-59 3
50-54 1
   
Total 20
   
Each class interval is represented by a lower limit (e.g., 95 for the top interval) and an
upper limit (e.g., 99 for the top interval). It is usually best to establish a lower limit that
is a multiple of the interval size. this makes the table easier to understand. Once the
intervals are complete you simply count the number of data points (or frequency) that
fit within each class interval.

           To calculate the interval size (i) that would be best for any set of data you
first need to compute the range of your data:

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                                        Range    = high score – low score
                                        For our original data:
                                                       = 99 – 51
                                            Range = 48
 
           The second step is to select the number of intervals you would like to use.
Let's say you select 10 intervals. Use the formula below to calculate the interval size
you should use.

            i (interval size)    ~ range/number of intervals

                                            ~ 48/10
                                            ~ 4.8 or rounded to 5

IV. Apparent Limits and Real Limits

 
           Apparent Limits are the same units as the original data while Real Limits are
the lower apparent limit minus 0.5 and the upper apparent limit plus 0.5. Notice the
difference in the table below:

 
Real Apparent Frequenc
Limits Limits y
94.5-99.5 95-99 3
89.5-94.5 90-94 2
84.5-89.5 85-89 2
79.5-74.5 80-74 3
74.5-79.5 75-79 1
69.5-74.5 70-74 3
64.5-69.5 65-69 2
59.5-64.5 60-64 0
54.5-59.5 55-59 3
49.5-54.5 50-54 1
     
Total   20
 

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V. Midpoint
 
          The Midpoint is the exact center of an interval. When the interval size is odd
the midpoints will be whole numbers. When the interval size is even the midpoints will
end in .5.  The midpoint is calculated with the formula below:
 
                               Midpoint      = lower limit + upper limit
                                                                           2                         
 
Real
Apparen Midpoint Frequenc
Limit
t Limits s y
s
94.5-
95-99 97 3
99.5
89.5-
90-94 92 2
94.5
84.5-
85-89 87 2
89.5
79.5-
80-74 82 3
74.5
74.5-
75-79 77 1
79.5
69.5-
70-74 72 3
74.5
64.5-
65-69 67 2
69.5
59.5-
60-64 62 0
64.5
54.5-
55-59 57 3
59.5
49.5-
50-54 52 1
54.5
       
Total     20
 
 

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VI. Cumulative Frequency
 
           If Frequency is the total number of scores that fall within a class interval, then
Cumulative Frequency is the total number of scores that fall below the upper real
limit of an interval. This is useful when you need to know how many scores fall below a
particular score. The easiest way to calculate cumulative frequency is to start at the
bottom interval and add the Frequency scores as you move up the table. This
technique and the final outcome are shown in the table below:
 
Cumulati
Real Appare
Midpoin Frequen Calculati ve
Limi nt
ts cy on Frequenc
ts Limits
y
94.5-
95-99 97 3 17 + 3 = 20*
99.5
89.5-
90-94 92 2 15 + 2 = 17
94.5
84.5-
85-89 87 2 13 + 2 = 15
89.5
79.5-
80-74 82 3 10 + 3 = 13
74.5
74.5-
75-79 77 1 9+1= 10
79.5
69.5-
70-74 72 3 6+3= 9
74.5
64.5-
65-69 67 2 4+2= 6
69.5
59.5-
60-64 62 0 4+0= 4
64.5
54.5-
55-59 57 3 1+3= 4
59.5
49.5-
50-54 52 1 1= 1
54.5
           
Tota
    20*    
l
 
       

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                *Note that the final cumulative frequency score should equal the total
frequency score.
 

VII. Relative Frequency

 
          Relative Frequency is used if you want to compare the frequencies of one
distribution with another when the total number of data points is different. Relative
Frequency is the proportion of scores from the distribution that fall within the real
limits of an interval This is similar to a percentage of scores where the percentage is the
proportion multiplied by 100. The Relative Frequency is computed by dividing the
frequency in the interval by the total frequency or total number of scores (n):
 
                  Relative Frequency      = frequency/ n

 
Cumulativ Relative
Real Apparen Midpoint Frequenc
e Frequenc
Limits t Limits s y
Frequency y
94.5-
95-99 97 3 20 0.15
99.5
89.5-
90-94 92 2 17 0.10
94.5
84.5-
85-89 87 2 15 0.10
89.5
79.5-
80-74 82 3 13 0.15
74.5
74.5-
75-79 77 1 10 0.05
79.5
69.5-
70-74 72 3 9 0.15
74.5
64.5-
65-69 67 2 6 0.10
69.5
59.5-
60-64 62 0 4 0.00
64.5
54.5-
55-59 57 3 4 0.15
59.5

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 49.5-
50-54 52 1 1 0.05
54.5
           
Total     20   1.00*
 
                *Note that the sum of the relative frequency should equal 1.00.

VIII. Cumulative Relative Frequency

  Cumulative Relative Frequency is the total proportion of scores that lie

below the real upper limit of the interval.

The easiest way to calculate cumulative relative frequency is to start at the

bottom interval and add the Relative Frequency scores as you move up the table as
we did with Cumulative Frequency. This final outcome is shown in the table below:

Cumulativ Relative Cumulativ

Real Apparen Midpoint Frequenc
e Frequenc e Relative
Limits t Limits s y
Frequency y Frequency
94.5-
95-99 97 3 20 0.15 1.00*
99.5
89.5-
90-94 92 2 17 0.10 0.85
94.5
84.5-
85-89 87 2 15 0.10 0.75
89.5

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 79.5-
80-74 82 3 13 0.15 0.65
74.5
74.5-
75-79 77 1 10 0.05 0.50
79.5
69.5-
70-74 72 3 9 0.15 0.45
74.5
64.5-
65-69 67 2 6 0.10 0.30
69.5
59.5-
60-64 62 0 4 0.00 0.20
64.5
54.5-
55-59 57 3 4 0.15 0.20
59.5
49.5-
50-54 52 1 1 0.05 0.05
54.5
             
Total     20   1.00*  
        
                *Note that the final cumulative relative frequency score should equal the
total relative frequency score.
 

IX. Cumulative Percent

  Cumulative Percent is simply the Cumulative Relative Frequency

multiplied by 100. The cumulative percent is shown in the table below:  
 
Cumulati
Cumulati
Real Appare Relative ve Cumulati
Midpoin Frequen ve
Limi nt Frequen Relative ve
ts cy Frequenc
ts Limits cy Frequenc Percent
y
y

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 94.5-
95-99 97 3 20 0.15 1.00 100*
99.5
89.5-
90-94 92 2 17 0.10 0.85 85
94.5
84.5-
85-89 87 2 15 0.10 0.75 75
89.5
79.5-
80-74 82 3 13 0.15 0.65 65
74.5
74.5-
75-79 77 1 10 0.05 0.50 50
79.5
69.5-
70-74 72 3 9 0.15 0.45 45
74.5
64.5-
65-69 67 2 6 0.10 0.30 30
69.5
59.5-
60-64 62 0 4 0.00 0.20 20
64.5
54.5-
55-59 57 3 4 0.15 0.20 20
59.5
49.5-
50-54 52 1 1 0.05 0.05 5
54.5
               
Tota
    20        
l
        
                 *Note that the final cumulative percent score should equal 100%.
 

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