Tabular and Graphical Presentation of Data

When the researchers gather the needed data, the next task is to organize and present them
with the use of appropriate tables and graphs. This section explains how to organize and display
data in a presentable and understandable manner. The students will learn on how to prepare
frequency distribution tables for quantitative and qualitative data. Furthermore, they will know on
how to construct graphs such as: bar graph, pie graph, and line graph and frequency polygon.

Types of tabular presentation

Types of tabular presentation may include simple frequency distribution, ungrouped

frequency distribution and grouped frequency distribution.

Simple frequency distribution

This is also called categorical frequency distribution. This is used for data that can be place
in categories. In other words, the qualitative data or categorical data is the appropriate in this type of
tabular presentation.

Consider the following data give the results of a sample survey. The letters A, B, and C
represent three categories. Construct a frequency distribution table from the given data below;

A B A A C C A C C C

C B C B B C B B B C

B C C A C C C B C A

Solutions: the categories are the three letters A, B, and C, so the simple frequency distribution table
is

Category Frequency Percentage

A 6 20%
B 9 30%
C 15 50%
Total 30 100%

Grouped Frequency Distribution

This is one technique used to facilitate the description of important features of the data.
Grouped frequency Distribution is utilized in presenting data sets by sorting them into classes and
showing the frequency of occurrences in each class.

Basic Terminology
 Before constructing grouped frequency distribution table let us familiarized all the features
on it.

Class intervals or class limits

This refers to the grouping defined by lower class limit and upper class limit. Sometimes,
the class limits is not defined.

Class boundaries

These are used to separate the classes so that these are no gaps in the frequency distribution
table. In continuous like test scores, weights, heights, etc. is supposed to starts and ends with an
accurate class limits by at least 0.5.

Class Marks or class midpoint

This is the value of a class interval or classes. This is obtained by finding the average of the
lower class limit and upper class limit.

Class size or class width

Class size or class width is the difference between the upper class limit/boundary and lower
class limit/boundary. The ratio of two values that is, the range divided by desired number of classes.

Class frequency

This means the number of observations belonging to a class interval.

Steps in Constructing the Grouped frequency Distribution

1. Determine the range (R) of the distribution.

2. Decide the number of classes. According to Herbert Sturges, the author of Sturges’ Rule,
suggested that the number of classes to tabulate n items should be approximately 1 + 3.3 log
(n). The class intervals, normally is not less than 5 and not more than 20.
3. Determine the class size (i). This is obtained by dividing the range by the desired number of
class interval. The class width should be an odd number. This ensures that the midpoint of
each class has the same place value as the data.
4. Select a starting point, either the lowest score or the lower class limit. Add the class width to
the starting point to get the second lower class limit. Then enter the upper class limit.
5. Find the class boundaries by subtracting 0.5 from each lower class limit and adding 0.5 to
the upper class limit.
6. Represent each score by a tally that fall within the class interval.
7. Count the number of frequency for each class. Finally, get sum to determine the total
frequency.
 Example: When 40 people were surveyed at Dipolog City, they reported the distance they drove to
the mall, and the results (kilometers) are given below.

2 8 1 5 9 5 14 10 31 20

15 4 10 6 5 5 1 8 12 10

25 40 31 24 20 20 3 9 15 15

25 8 1 1 16 23 18 25 21 12

Construct a grouped frequency distribution table.

Solutions: Follow the steps:

1. Range = highest score – lowest score = 40 – 1 = 39

2. Class intervals = 1 + 3.3 log (40) ≈ 6.28 rounded of 6.
𝑅 39
3. Class width = = = 6.5 = 7 class size
𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑠 6
4. Determine the lower class limit. In this example the lower class limit is 1. So, add the class width to
the lower class limit to get the next lower limit (8).

Table 1 Grouped Frequency Distribution for a distance of 40 People drove

Distance Class boundaries Class midpoint Frequency Less than Cumulative Tally
frequency
1-7 0.5 – 7.5 4 12 12 11111-
11111-11
8-14 7.5 – 14.5 11 11 23 11111-
11111-1
15-21 14.5 – 21.5 18 9 32 11111-1111
22-28 21.5 – 28.5 25 5 37 11111-
29-35 28.5 – 35.5 32 2 39 11
36-42 35.5 – 42.5 39 1 40 1
Total 40

5. Determine the class boundaries. This will be obtained by adding 0.5 for each upper class limit and
subtract 0.5 for each lower class limit.
6. Tally the scores.
7. Determine the class midpoint for each class interval.
8. Construct cumulative frequency (less than).
Graphical Presentation

After the data have been collected, they can be consolidated and summarized to show the
following information:

 How values of the variable have been measured

 How often each value has occurred

The type of graph you choose depends on the type of variable you have measured. When the
variable of interest is qualitative, you can use either pie chart or bar graph. Pie Chart is the familiar
circular graph that shows how the measurements are distributed among the categories. While Bar
chart shows the same distribution of measurements in categories, with the height of the bar
measuring how often a particular category was observed. Here is an example of a pie chart below;

Example: In a survey concerning public education, 400 school administrators were asked to rate the
quality of education in the Philippines. Their responses are summarized in the Table 2. Construct a
pie chart and a bar chart for this set of data.

Table 2 Philippine Education Rating by 400 Administrators

Rating Frequency
A 35
B 260
C 93
D 12
Total 400

Solutions: Assign one sector of a circle to each category. The angle of each sector should be
proportional to the proportional of measurements in that category. The equation to find the angle is

Angle = relative frequency * 360o

Thus the pie chart of the ratings of 400 educators is shown in figure 1

Figure 1. Ratings of 400 Educators

C ategory
D
3.0% A
8.8% C
B

23.3%

65.0%
 Bar chart usually plot frequency against the categories. A bar chart for the previous data is
shown in Figure 2.
Chart of frequency

250

200
frequency

150

100

50

0
A B C D
rating

Figure 2 Ratings of 400 Educators in the Philippines

Line Graphs

When a quantitative variable is recorded over time at equally intervals (such as daily,
weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly), the data set forms a time series. Time series data are most
effectively presented on a line chart with time as the horizontal axis. The idea is to try to discern a
pattern or trend that will likely continue into the future, and then to use that pattern to make accurate
predictions for the immediate future.

Example: In the year 2025, the oldest “baby boomers” will be 79 years old, and the oldest “Gen-
Xers” will be two years from Social Security eligibility. The United States Bureau of the Census
gives projections for the portion of the U.S. population that will be 85 and over in the coming years,
as shown below. Construct a line chart to illustrate the data.

Table 3 Population Growth Projections

Year 2010 2020 230 2040 2050

85 and over 6.1 7.3 9.6 15.4 20.9
(millions)
 Time Series Plot of 85 and over
22.5

20.0
85 and over (millions)

17.5

15.0

12.5

10.0

7.5

5.0
2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Year

Histogram

A histogram is a graphical representation of a frequency distribution. This is a bar chart

whose Y-axis shows the number of data values within each classes of a frequency distribution and
whose X-axis ticks show the end points of each class or simply the midpoint in each class boundary.

Example: Consider the frequency distribution table for a distance of 40 People drove

Histogram of distance

12

10

8
Frequency

0
4 11 18 25 32 39
distance
 Figure 3 Distance of People Drove to the Mall

Stem and Leaf Plot

Another simple way to display the distribution of a quantitative data set is the stem and leaf
plot. This plot presents a graphical display of the data using the actual numerical values of each data
point.

Example: The table below lists the prices (in dollars) of19 different brands of walking shoes.
Construct a stem and leaf plot to display the distribution of the data.

Table 4 Prices of Walking Shoes

90 70 70 70 75 70
65 68 60 74 70 95
75 70 68 65 40 65
70

Solutions: To create the stem and leaf, you could divide each observation between the ones and the
tens place. The number to the left is the stem; the number to the right is the leaf.

Stem leaf counts

4 0 1
5 0
6 580855 6
7 0005040500 10
8 0
9 05 2

Sometimes the available stem choices result in a plot that contains too few stems and a large
number of leaves within each stem. In this situation, you can stretch the stems by dividing each one
into several lines, depending on the leaf values assigned to them. Stems are usually divided into two
lines, with leaves 0 – 4 in the first line and leaves 5 – 9 in the second line.