Concise way of presenting the data: the data are grouped into classes, displaying the number of observatons in each class, and the result is presented as a table.
Example: In a factory of small engines, fitting problems were ocurring with the axis. It was decided to measure the diameter of 200 engines and the result is shown in the following table.
| 4.8 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.5 |
| 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.2 |
| 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 5.6 |
| 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 5.1 |
| 5.4 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 4.4 |
| 5.7 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 5.1 |
| 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5.2 | 5.5 |
| 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| 5.0 | 5.2 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.2 |
| 4.8 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 4.5 |
| 4.8 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 4.5 |
| 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.2 |
| 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 5.6 |
| 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 5.1 |
| 5.4 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 4.4 |
| 5.7 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.1 |
| 5.1 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 5.5 |
| 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| 5.0 | 5.2 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 4.7 | 4.8 | 5.2 |
| 4.8 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 4.5 |
click here to download the data
To use the tool Frequency Distribution the user must follow these steps:
1. Access the tool Frequency Distribution:
Action → Basic Statistics → Frequencies Distribution
2. The following window will appear;
3. With the cursor in the field Factors select the column (or row) that contains the data. In this case, there is no restriction on the data. They can be numerical or categorical.
REMARK: It is preferable that the data are arranged in a single column. The data cannot be selected in a table.
4. In the board Result, choose if the anaysis will be just a frequency count (Frequency) or if it will be splitted into classes (Choose Number of Classes). In this example we will choose Frequency;
5. We can also select the box Histogram Chart to perform an histogram;
6. In the board Show Results, choose between the options Current Cell or New Sheet. We suggest the option New Sheet, because Action does not have the undo command;
REMARK: When choosing the option Current Cell, the results will be printed from the cell where the cursor is. In this case, we must put the cursor in an appropriate position previously (before step 1).
7. To finish, click Ok.
Results and Interpretation
Once the process is finished, the following results will be shown:
As a result, we obtain the counting of the data. We observe that the data are more concentrated between the values 4.5 and 5.2.
In general, when the variabel is qualitativa or discrete quantitative, the analysis is done with no division intro class intervals. We split in class intervals when the variabel being examined is a continuous quantitative variable. Thus, in the above example, we can do an analysis divided into class intervals. We just need to choose in step 4 the option Choose number of classes. In this case, we must choose the number of classes and there is still the option Histogram Chart. We will realize the previous example dividing into 5 classes. In this case, we have the following result:
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