Introduction

Frequency distribution in statistics shows us the commonness of a repeated number or numbers in a form of graphical representation or a tabular form. In simple terms, it provides the users a visual representation of the items or numbers that appeared several times. Frequency distribution is used to collect or organize the data in a tabular format which is known as Frequency Distribution Table. The data which is entered in the table can be the weight, marks scored, the height of the students in a particular class, or anything which can be calculated in numerical terms. Let’s understand different elements of frequency distribution. 

Frequency Distribution Table

A Frequency Distribution Table shows the frequency of a set of data in an organized manner. It provides us the exact interval between each data and lets us analyze the data with the help of variance and central tendency. A frequency distribution table is one of the most convenient ways to organize the data of a certain group. It is a chart to make a summary of all the data in two or three columns which are variables and their frequency. 

The first column consists of the results in the form of class intervals or individual values. The second column is of the tally marks and the third one includes the frequency of each result. Here frequency means the number of times a thing is repeating. To have a better understanding of the frequency distribution table here is one example. 

John is counting the age of his classmates which ranges from 10 years to 16years as 10, 12, 11, 13, 16, 15, 14, 10, 15, 13, 14, 16, and 15.  To get the exact number of frequencies, he decided to make a frequency distribution table, by taking outcomes as 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. 

Outcomes

Tally Marks

Frequency

10

II

2

11

I

1

12

I

1

13

II

2

14

II

2

15

III

3

16

II

2

The above table is one of the examples of a frequency distribution table. As you can see, all the information was organized in a proper way into three columns. Therefore, frequency distribution in statistics is a way to distribute data in a tabular form and to analyze it. 

Steps To Make Frequency Distribution Table

As mentioned above, frequency distribution is one of the easiest methods to organize data. Here are the steps to make a frequency distribution table. Make a table with at least two columns, out of which one is for the information or outcome and another one is for the frequency. You can also go for the third volume which is for the tally marks if you want to. 

  • Observe the items given in the question and decide whether you want to make an up grouped or grouped frequency distribution table. If you are having confusion with a lot of numbers then prefer grouped over ungrouped frequency distribution( both the grouped and ungrouped frequency tables is explained in the next points)
  • Then write the set of values in the first column
  • After that, observe how many times each number is appearing in the set of data. This means you will need to find the frequency of each number given
  • Then after counting, write it in the second column in correspondence to the items in column one
  • As the last step, write the total number of frequencies at the end of column two by adding it
  • Another option step of the third column is for the tally marks. You can give talky marks for the number of frequencies for each item in column one

Grouped and Ungrouped Frequency Distribution Table

Let’s understand this with the previous example. 

John is counting the age of his classmates which ranges from 10 years to 16years as 10, 12, 11, 13, 16, 15, 14, 10, 15, 13, 14, 16, and 15.  To get the exact number of frequencies, he decided to make a frequency distribution table, by taking outcomes as 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. 

Age

Tally Marks

Frequency

10

II

2

11

I

1

12

I

1

13

II

2

14

II

2

15

III

3

16

II

2

Total

13

The above-drawn frequency distribution table is an example of an ungrouped frequency distribution table. This method is used when you have smaller sets of data to organize as it is easy to write the values and count the number of frequencies. 

But what if you counter a bigger set of data with a lot of variables? So in this case, we make use of the grouped frequency distribution table. This table is made by making certain ass intervals. Here is the example. 

Age

Frequency 

10-12

4

12-14

5

14-16

7

Total 

16

Conclusion

Frequency distribution plays a major part in statistics and therefore clearing each and every concept is necessary. Some of the students might get confused while preparing the frequency distribution table or dealing with the formula. Follow these guiding articles to get the best understanding of Frequency distribution in statistics.