frequency distribution
Definition
Noun: A systematic arrangement of values that shows the number of times each value or range of values of a variable occurs in a dataset. It is a fundamental statistical summary that organizes raw data to reveal patterns.
Usage
A frequency distribution is used to summarize and describe a dataset. It is typically presented as a table or a chart (like a histogram). The core components are the list of unique values or class intervals (categories) and their corresponding frequencies (counts).
Examples
- The researcher created a frequency distribution to display the test scores of all 100 students.
- By examining the frequency distribution of customer ages, the marketing team identified their primary demographic.
- A simple frequency distribution showed that the value '7' appeared 15 times in the data.
Advanced Usage
- Cumulative Frequency Distribution: A variation that shows the running total of frequencies up to each successive value or class interval. This is used to determine the number of observations below a particular value.
- Relative Frequency Distribution: A distribution that shows the proportion or percentage of the total observations that fall into each category, rather than the raw count.
Variants and Related Words
- Frequency (n): The number of times a particular value or event occurs.
- Distribution (n): In statistics, the way in which values or data points are spread or arranged.
- Histogram (n): A bar chart that represents a frequency distribution for continuous data.
- Bar Chart (n): A chart that represents a frequency distribution for categorical data.
Synonyms
- Frequency table
- Frequency count
Related Terms and Concepts
- Class Interval: A range of values grouped together in a frequency distribution.
- Tally: A method of counting and recording frequencies.
- Dataset (n): The complete collection of data from which a frequency distribution is created.
Noun
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a distribution of observed frequencies of occurrence of the values of a variable
