Frequency distribution
Topic: Geographical Data: Sources, Compilation and Processing · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Data - Its Source and Compilation"
Meaning
A frequency distribution is a table that shows how many items fall into each class of the data. The number of items in a class is called its frequency (f). It shows at a glance where values bunch together and where they are few. If you add up all the frequencies, you get the total number of items, written as Σf = N.
Example
NCERT sorts the geography scores of 60 students, which range from 02 to 96, into ten classes of 10 marks each. The table shows how many students scored in each class, and the frequencies add up to N = 60.
Don't confuse with
- Cumulative frequency: a running total of frequencies, class after class. A simple frequency counts only the items inside one class.
Related concepts
- Grouping of data
- Class interval
- Tally marks
- Cumulative frequency
- Exclusive method
- Inclusive method
- Frequency polygon
- Ogive