Chapter-02

Describing, Exploring and

Comparing Data

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Outline

●Introduction
●Frequency Distributions
●Visualizing Data

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Objectives

●Organize data using frequency

distributions
●Graphical representation of data in
frequency distributions using
histograms, frequency polygons,
bar chart, pie chart and ogives

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Frequency Distributions

●When data are collected in original

form, they are called raw data.
●When the raw data is organized into a
frequency distribution, the frequency
will be the number of values in a
specific class of the distribution.

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 Frequency Distributions

●A frequency distribution is the

organizing of raw data in table form,
using classes and frequencies.
●The following slide shows an example
of a frequency distribution.

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 Three Types of Frequency
Distributions

●Categorical frequency distributions - can

be used for data that can be placed in
specific categories, such as nominal or
ordinal level data.
●Examples: Political affiliation, religious
affiliation, blood type etc.

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Blood Type Frequency
Distribution - Example

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 Ungrouped Frequency
Distributions
●Ungrouped frequency distributions - can
be used for data that can be enumerated
and when the range of values in the data
set is not large.
●Examples: Number of miles the
instructors have to travel from home to
campus, number of girls in a 4-child family
etc.
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Number of Miles Traveled
Example

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 Grouped Frequency
Distributions

●Grouped frequency distributions - can be

used when the range of values in the data
set is very large. The data must be
grouped into classes that are more than
one unit in width.
●Examples: The life of boat batteries in
hours.

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Lifetimes of Boat Batteries
Example

Class Class Frequency Cumulative

limits Boundaries (f) Frequency (F)
24 - 37 23.5 - 37.5 4 4

38 - 51 37.5 - 51.5 14 18

52 - 65 51.5 - 65.5 7 25

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 Terms Associated with a Grouped
Frequency Distribution

●Class limits represent the smallest and

largest data values that can be included in
a class.
●In the lifetimes of boat batteries example,
the values 24 and 37 of the first class are
the class limits.
●The lower class limit is 24 and the upper
class limit is 37.
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 Terms Associated with a Grouped
Frequency Distribution

●The class boundaries are used to

separate the classes so that there are
no gaps in the frequency distribution.

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Terms Associated with a Grouped
Frequency Distribution

●The class width for a class in a

frequency distribution is found by
subtracting the lower (or upper) class
limit of one class minus the lower (or
upper) class limit of the previous
class.

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 Guidelines for Constructing
a Frequency Distribution

●Number of classes should be

between 5 and 25.
●The class width should be an odd
number.
●The classes must be mutually
exclusive.

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 Guidelines for Constructing a
Frequency Distribution

●The classes must be continuous.

●The classes must be exhaustive.

●The class must be equal in width.

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Procedure for Constructing
a Grouped Frequency Distribution

●Find the highest and lowest value.

●Find the range.
●Recommend the number of classes
desired.
●Find the width by dividing the range by
the number of classes and rounding up.

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Procedure for Constructing
a Grouped Frequency Distribution

●Select a lower limit (usually the lowest

st
value) of the 1 class; add the width to get
the upper limits.
●Find the class limits.
●Find the boundaries.
●Tally the data, find the frequencies and
cumulative frequencies.

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Grouped Frequency Distribution
Example

●In a survey of 20 patients who smoked, the

following data were obtained. Each value
represents the number of cigarettes the
patient smoked per day. Construct a
frequency distribution with six classes
using data given in the next slide.

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Grouped Frequency Distribution -
Example

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Grouped Frequency Distribution -
Example

●Step 1: Find the highest and lowest

values: H = 22 and L = 5
●Step 2:–Find the –range:
R = H L = 22 5 = 17
●Step 3: Select the number of classes
desired. In this case it is equal to 6.

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Grouped Frequency Distribution -
Example

●Step 4: Find the class width by

dividing the range by the number of
classes. Width = 17/6 = 2.83. This
value is rounded up to 3.

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Grouped Frequency Distribution -
Example
st
●Step 5: Set a starting value for the 1
class limit. For convenience, this
value is chosen to be 5, the smallest
data value. The lower-class limits of
all classes will be 5, 8, 11, 14, 17 and
20.

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Grouped Frequency Distribution -
Example

●Step 6: The upper-class limits of all

classes will be 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 and
22. For example, the upper limit for
the first class is computed as 8 - 1,
etc.

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Grouped Frequency Distribution -
Example

●Step 7: Find the class boundaries by

subtracting 0.5 from each lower-
class limit and adding 0.5 to the
upper-class limit.

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Grouped Frequency Distribution
Example

●Step 8: Tally the data, write the

numerical values for the tallies in the
frequency column and find the
cumulative frequencies.
●The grouped frequency distribution is
shown in the next slide.

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Note: The dash “-” represents “to”

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 Visualizing Data

●The three most commonly used

graphs in research are:
● Histogram
● Frequency Polygon
● Cumulative Frequency Graph (Ogive)
● Bar Chart
● Pie Chart
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 Visualizing Data

●The histogram is a graph that displays

the data by using vertical bars of
various heights to represent the
frequencies.

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Example of a Histogram

5
yc
4
n
e
u
q
er
3

F 2

5 8 11 14 17 20

Number of C iga rettes S moke d per D a y

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 Visualizing Data

●A frequency polygon is a graph that

displays the data by using lines that
connect points plotted for
frequencies at the midpoint of
classes. The frequencies represent
the heights of the midpoints.

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Example of a Frequency Polygon

Frequency Polygon
6

5
yc
n 4
e
u
q 3
er
F 2

2 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26

Number of Cigarettes Smoked per Day

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 Visualizing Data

●A cumulative frequency graph or Ogive

is a graph that represents the
cumulative frequencies for the
classes in a frequency distribution.

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Example of an Ogive
Ogive

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 Visualizing Data

A Bar Chart can be used to depict any of

the following levels of measurement
(nominal, ordinal and interval).

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Visualizing Data
Construct a bar chart for the number of
unemployed per 100,000 population for
selected cities during 2001

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Bar Chart

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 Other Types of Graphs

●Time series graph - A time series

graph represents data that occur over
a specific period.

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 Time Series Graphs
(Single Series)

PO R T AU T HO R IT Y T R ANS IT R ID E R S HIP

89

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lli
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sr 79
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1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

Year

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Line Graphs are typically used to show
the change or trend in a variable over time.

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Line Graphs
(Double Series)

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 Other Types of Graphs

●Pie Chart - A pie chart is a circle that

is divided into sections or wedges
according to the percentage of
frequencies in each category of the
distribution.

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2000
 Other Types of Graphs -
Pie Chart
Pie Chart of the Robbery (29, 12.1%)
Number of Crimes
Investigated by Rape (34, 14.2%)
Law Enforcement
Officers in U.S.
National Parks Homicide
During 1995 (13, 5.4%)

Assaults
(164, 68.3%)

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