In the modern world, it can be overwhelming to witness the amount of data and the graphical representation of dataknowing how

to understand and interpret this data can be very important in both personal and professional life.

Frequency and Relative Frequency Tables for Qualitative Data There are several ways to display quantitative data and it is important to select the most appropriate display given particular data. A frequency distribution is a data display that lists each category or data and the number of occurrences for each category. To create a frequency table, first count the number of times data items are classified in each category, as in the number of times heads comes up when tossing a coin and the number 6 comes up when tossing a die. The table below gives the number of times (frequency) that different body parts required rehabilitation: Body Part Back Wrist Elbow Hip Shoulder Knee Hand Groin Neck Total: Frequency 12 2 1 2 4 5 2 1 1 30 Relative Frequency 0.4000 0.0667 0.0333 0.0667 0.1333 0.1667 0.0667 0.0333 0.0333

The frequency column is a count or tally of the number of times each category occurred in that particular study. However, the relative frequency column is calculated from the frequency column by dividing each number by the total (e.g. 12/30 = 0.4000). Using Excel, the relative frequency bar graph for the types of rehabilitation is shown below:

MAT130 Module Two

Frequency Distributions and Histograms for Continuous Data Discrete data is already conveniently organized in categories, but continuous data requires calculating classes (bins) and organizing the data into those classes. For instance, given below is the continuous data for the Three-Year Rate of Return of Mutual Funds. Table 12 Three-Year Rate of Return of Mutual Funds (as of 10/31/07) 13.5 13.16 10.53 14.74 13.2 12.24 12.61 19.11 14.47 12.29 13.92 16.16 12.07 10.99 15.07 10.06 14.14 12.77 19.74 12.76 13.34 11.32 15.41 17.37 13.51 15.44 15.1 17.13 12.37 16.34 11.34 10.57 15.7 13.28 23.76 22.68 14.81 23.54 19.65 14.07 The class limits can be set up using limits starting at 10 to 11.99, and 12 to 13.99. The bin in Excel only uses the upper class limits (11.99, 13.99, etc.). Using the table, set up class (bins) and count the data items in each class. These bins are used to create a histogram based on the resulting frequency distribution.

MAT 130 Module Two

Bin Frequency 9.99 0 11.99 6 13.99 14 15.99 10 17.99 4 19.99 3 21.99 0 23.99 3 More 0 There are several other data displays, including pie chart, Pareto chart and multi-bar chart, used to display data. Explore the resources and refer to the Excel Tutorial located in the Resources folder, to aid in creating charts and tables for statistical analysis.

MAT130 Module Two