How to Create Frequency Distribution
Frequency distribution is a statistic method to illustrate and simplify a large set of data. It is simply a method of organizing and simplifying the data to make it more understandable.
The main purpose of the frequency distribution is to find out how often each value occurred within the data. The frequency distribution is essentially a table with two columns. The first column titled "X" represents all possible values of the data and the second column titled "Frequency" represents how frequent each value occurred.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Challenging
Instructions
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1
Collect the data by writing it on a piece of paper. For example, let's say we have data that consists of following 25 numbers: 1, 3, 5, 3, 7, 5, 8, 9, 2, 6, 6, 13, 20, 21, 34, 43, 10, 23, 5, 10, 5, 3, 5, 6 and 8.
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2
Rearrange the data so that it starts with the smallest number and ends with the highest number. In this example, this data will be rearranged as follows: 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10, 10, 13, 20, 21, 23, 34 and 43.
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3
Create two columns. Title first column as "X." The first column represents all possible values of your data. Title second column as "Frequency." The second column represents "how frequent" each value of the first column occurred.
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4
Look at the first value in Step 2. As you can see the first value is "1"; write "1" under "X" column. Now count how many times the value "1" occurred. You will notice the value "1" occurred only one time. Write "1" under "Frequency" column. Similarly, look at the second value, which is "2," in Step 2. Write "2" right under 1 of "X" column. Again count how many times the value "2" occurred. Since "2" also occurred only once, write "1" under "1" of "Frequency" column.
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5
Repeat Step 4 for all 25 values of your data set. Once you complete filling out all possible values in the "X" column and their occurrence in the "Frequency" column, your frequency distribution is complete.
Your Frequency Distribution will look like this:
X Frequency
1 1
2 1
3 3
5 5
6 3
7 1
8 2
9 1
10 2
13 1
20 1
21 1
23 1
34 1
43 1
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1
Tips & Warnings
Rearranging the data in Step 2 will make it easy to create a frequency distribution table. Always rearrange the data. You can use an Excel spreadsheet to rearrange the data by first entering the random data and then clicking on the "Sort Ascending" button.
Organizing the data requires careful analysis and attention to details. Please count data twice for accuracy.
