Univariate distribution
Topic: Economic Data: Census, NSS, Surveys and Statistical Tools · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 3 "Organisation of Data"; Class 11, Ch 8 "Use of Statistical Tools"
Meaning
A univariate distribution is the frequency distribution of a single variable. A variable is a quantity whose value changes from case to case. The distribution shows how the values of that one variable spread across classes. Averages and spread are worked out from it. It says nothing about how that variable relates to any other.
Example
The marks of 100 students grouped into classes 0-10, 10-20 … 90-100 form a univariate distribution. For example, 21 students fall in the 40-50 class and 23 in the 50-60 class. Only one variable, marks, is involved.
Don't confuse with
- Bivariate frequency distribution: this covers two variables together, with joint frequencies in each cell. NCERT's example is sales vs advertising spending for 20 firms. It is the starting point for studying correlation.
Related concepts
- Raw data
- Classification
- Chronological classification
- Spatial classification
- Qualitative classification
- Quantitative classification
- Attribute
- Continuous variable
- Discrete variable
- Frequency