Histograms & Frequency

Distributions
Histogram

A histogram is a bar graph of a frequency distribution. To construct a histogram

we draw two axes. The horizontal axis is labelled with the class boundaries and
the vertical axis is labelled with the frequencies or relative frequencies. The bars
of adjacent class intervals should touch with no space between the bars. This
highlights the continuous and quantitative character of the class intervals. The
height of the bar represents the frequency of the class interval. The histogram of
Example 1 is shown in Figure 1.1.

Example 1

Class Intervals Frequencies

5-9 8
10 - 14 15
15 - 19 4
20 - 24 7
25 - 29 3
30 - 34 5
It should be noted that frequencies in a histogram can be plotted against the class
intervals which are used as labels not representing actual values on the x-axis.
That is 5- 9, 10 - 14, etc. would be plotted in the middle of its corresponding bar.

Frequency Polygon
A frequency polygon is a line graph of a frequency distribution. To construct a
frequency polygon we plot the midpoint of each class interval to their
corresponding frequency. The midpoints should be the same distance apart. An
extra space is added to both the left and right and zero frequencies are attached
to these additional points. The frequency polygon of Example 1 is shown in
Figure 1.2.

Example 1 - cont'd

Class Intervals Frequencies Midpoints

5-9 8 7
10 - 14 15 12
15 - 19 4 17
20 - 24 7 22
 25 - 29 3 27
30 - 34 5 32

Cumulative Frequency Ogive

A cumulative frequncy polygon is a line graph of a cumulative frequency
distribution, it is also known as the cumulative frequency ogive. To construct a
cumulative polygon we plot the upper limit of each class interval to their
corresponding cumulative frequency. It should be noted that there are two types
of cumulative frequency ogives: (i) less than cumulative frequency ogives & (ii)
more than cumulative frequency ogives.

Example 1 - cont'd
 Upper Class Less than Cumulative
Boundaries Frequencies
4.5 0
9 .5 8
14.5 23
19.5 27
24.5 34
29.5 37
34.5 42

NB: The ogive should be drawn using 'freehand' and not using a ruler to connect
the dots.