METHODS OF PRESENTING DATA Steps in the Construction of a Frequency Distribution

Textual Method – a narrative description of the data Table.

gathered.

Tabular Method – a systematic arrangement of

information into columns and rows.

Graphical Method – an illustrative description of the

data.

THE FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION TABLE (FDT)

An FDT is a statistical table showing the frequency or
number of observations contained in each of the defined
classes or categories. Other Columns of a Quantitative FDT
1. True class boundaries (TCB) / Exact limits
Parts of an FDT / Statistical Table a.
1
Lower true class boundaries (LTCB = LL - unit
2
of measure)
1
b. Upper true class boundaries (UTCB = UL +
2
unit of measure)

2. Class mark (CM)/ Midpoint

1 1
CM = (LL+UL) or CM= (LTCB + UTCB)
2 2

3. Relative frequency(RF)
𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦
RF= %RF= x100%
𝑁 𝑁
TYPES OF FDT
4. Cumulative frequency (CF)
Qualitative or Categorical FDT – an FDT where the data
a. Less than CF (<CF) – total number of observations
are group according to some qualitative characteristics;
whose values do not exceed the UL of the class.
data are grouped into non numerical categories.
b. Greater than CF (>CF) – total number of observations
Quantitative FDT – an FDT where data are grouped
whose values are not less than the LL of the class.
according to some numerical or quantitative
5. Relative cumulative frequency (RCF)
characteristics.
a. Less than relative cumulative frequency (<RCF)
b. Greater than relative cumulative frequency (>RCF)

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF DATA

Advantages:

 Main features and implications of a body of data

can be seen at once.
 Can attract attention and hold the reader’s
interest
 Simplifies concepts that would otherwise have
been expressed in so many words.
 Can readily clarify data, frequently bring out
hidden facts and relationship.
Qualities of a Good Graph

 Accurate
 Clear
 Simple
 Good appearance

COMMON TYPES OF GRAPH

 SCATTER GRAPH – a graph used to represent

measurements or values that are thought to be
related. Examples:
 LINE CHART – graphical representation of data
especially useful for showing trends over a
period of time.
 PIE CHART – a circular graph that is useful in
showing how a total quantity is distributed
among a group of categories.
 COLUMN AND BAR GRAPH – like pie chart,
this is applicable only to grouped data. Used for
discrete, grouped data of ordinal and nominal.

Graphical representation of the FDT A measure of central tendency is any single value
FREQUENCY HISTOGRAM – a bar graph that that is used to identify the “center” of the data or
displays the classes on the horizontal axis and the typical value.
frequencies of the classes on the vertical axis; the
vertical lines of the bars are erected at the class 3 Types:
boundaries and the height of the bars correspond to Mean
the class frequency.
RELATIVE FREQUENCY HISTOGRAM – a graph
that displays the classes on the horizontal axis and
the relative frequencies on the vertical axis.
FREQUENCY POLYGON – line chart that is
constructed by plotting the frequencies at the class
marks. (Frequency vs. class marks).
OGIVES – graph of the cumulative frequency
distribution.
<OGIVE – the <CF is plotted against the UTCB.
>OGIVE – the >CF is plotted against the LTCB.

Median
Mode
Ungrouped data

Mean – average of all the data

Median – (odd) – middle score

 - (even) – average of two middlemost score = 61.4375

Grouped Data

Seconds Frequency

51 - 55 2

56 - 60 7

61 - 65 8

66 - 70 4

Mode – with highest frequency

 The groups (51-55, 56-60, etc), also
called class intervals, are of width5 -"the modal group is 61 - 65"

 The midpoints are in the middle of each

fm − fm-1
class: 53, 58, 63 and 68 =L+ ×w
(fm − fm-1) + (fm − fm+1)
Mean – average of the data

- Midpoint x frequency over total f
 L is the lower class boundary of the modal group
 fm-1 is the frequency of the group before the modal
group
 fm is the frequency of the modal group
 fm+1 is the frequency of the group after the modal
group
 w is the group width

8−7 ×
= 60.5 +
Median – (8 − 7) + (8 − 4) 5
= 60.5 + (1/5) × 5
(n/2) − B
L+ ×w = 61.5
G

 L is the lower class boundary of the

group containing the median
 n is the total number of values
 B is the cumulative frequency of the
groups before the median group
 G is the frequency of the median group
 w is the group width

Estimated Median = 60.5 + (21/2) − 98 × 5

= 60.5 + 0.9375

 Measures of dispersion indicate the extent
to which individual items in a series are
scattered about an average.
 The more similar the scores are to each
other, the lower the measure of
dispersion will be
 The less similar the scores are to each
other, the higher the measure of
dispersion will be
 In general, the more spread out a
distribution is, the larger the measure of
dispersion will be
Measures of Absolute Dispersion
The Standard Deviation and the Variance
Variance is the mean of the squared deviation scores
The larger the variance is, the more the scores deviate,
on average, away from the mean
The smaller the variance is, the less the scores deviate,
on average, from the mean
When the deviate scores are squared in variance, their
unit of measure is squared as well
E.g. If people’s weights are measured in pounds, then
the variance of the weights would be expressed in
pounds2 (or squared pounds)
Since squared units of measure are often awkward to
deal with, the square root of variance is often used
instead
The standard deviation is the square root of variance

 Measures of absolute dispersion are expressed

in the units of the original observations.
 There are three main measures of absolute
dispersion:
-The range
-The semi-interquartile range (SIR)
-Variance / standard deviation

The Range

 The range is defined as the difference between

the largest score in the set of data and the
smallest score in the set of data, XL – XS
 The range is used when you have ordinal data
or you are presenting your results to people
with little or no knowledge of statistics
 mean and when negative , the data is below the
mean.

Measures of Relative Dispersion

 are used when one wishes to compare the

scatter of one distribution with another
distribution.
 Some measures of absolute dispersion:
Coefficient of Variation (used to compare
standard deviations when the units are
different.)
 Standard Score (or Z Score)
-This represents the number of standard
deviations that a data value falls above or below
the mean. If the z score is positive its above the
Percentiles are values that divide a set of observations in A psychologist obtained the IQ scores of 10 students.
an array into 100 equal parts. The IQ scores are as follow:

P1, read as first percentile, interpreted as 1% is below the 110 95 85 140 132 100 95
given value. 70 85 100
P2, read as second percentile, interpreted as 2% is below
the given value. Find D7
.
.
P99, read as ninety-ninth percentile, interpreted as 99%
is below the given value.

Quartiles are values that divide a set of observations in

an array into 4 equal parts.

Q1, read as first quartile, interpreted as 25% is below the

given value.
Q2, read as second quartile, interpreted as 50% is below
the given value.
Q3, read as third quartile, interpreted as 75% is below
the given value.

The first quartile, Q1, is the median of {3, 5, 7, 8}.

Deciles are values that divide a set of observations in an

array into 10 equal parts.

D1, read as first decile, interpreted as 10% is below the .

given value. the upper half of the data is: {13, 14, 18, 21}, so
D2, read as second decile, interpreted as 20% is below
the given value.
.
.
D9, read as ninth decile, interpreted as 90% is below the
given value.

Ex 2.

{3, 7, 8, 5, 12, 14, 21, 15, 18, 14}.

Q1 = 7 ; Q3 = 15.