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How do you find the number of classes disiaired in group frequency distribution?

2 Answers

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Final answer:

To find the number of classes desired in a group frequency distribution, follow these steps: determine the range of the data, decide on the desired width of each class interval, divide the range by the desired width to find the approximate number of classes needed, and adjust the number of classes if necessary.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the number of classes desired in a group frequency distribution, you can follow these steps:

  1. First, determine the range of the data by subtracting the smallest value from the largest value.
  2. Next, decide on the desired width of each class interval. This will depend on the data and your preferences.
  3. Divide the range by the desired width to find the approximate number of classes needed. Round up to the nearest whole number.
  4. Adjust the number of classes if necessary to ensure that each class has a sufficient number of data points for analysis. Remember that having too few or too many classes can affect the accuracy of the distribution.

For example, if you have a data set with values ranging from 10 to 50 and you want to create class intervals of width 10, you would have a range of 40. Dividing 40 by 10 gives you 4 classes, but you may decide to have 5 classes instead to ensure that each class has a reasonable number of data points.

User Alyssa Reyes
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5 votes

Final answer:

To determine the number of classes in a group frequency distribution, use methods like Sturges' formula, ensure classes are of equal width, calculate class width, and then determine frequency and relative frequency for data organization.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the number of classes desired in a group frequency distribution, there are various guidelines you can follow. One commonly used method is Sturges' formula, which is: Number of Classes (k) = 1 + 3.322 Ă— log10(N), where N is the number of observations in the dataset. However, this is not a strict rule and the number of classes can be chosen based on the level of detail you need.

The classes should be of equal width, and you might also consider the square root choice, where the number of classes is approximately the square root of the number of observations. Once the number of classes has been determined, calculate the class width by dividing the range of the data by the number of classes. Organize the data into the classes and then count the number of data points falling into each class to create the frequency.

To find the relative frequency, divide the frequency of each class by the total number of observations. Midpoints for each class can be used for graphical representations, such as histograms, where these will be graphed on the x-axis and the frequency values on the y-axis.

User Cointilt
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