Final answer:
The sum of relative frequencies in any frequency distribution should equal 1 (or 100%), and the final entry in the cumulative relative frequency should also be 1, indicating the entire dataset is accounted for.
Step-by-step explanation:
After constructing any relative frequency distribution, the sum of the relative frequencies should equal 1, or 100% when expressed as a percentage. This is because a relative frequency is the ratio of the frequency of a particular value to the total number of observations in the dataset. To calculate the relative frequencies, you divide each frequency by the total number of data values. For cumulative relative frequency, the values in the column are obtained by adding each relative frequency to the total of the relative frequencies of all preceding data values. The last entry of the cumulative relative frequency column indicates that 100% of the data has been accumulated, and it should be one (or very close to it if there are any rounding errors).
For example, if the first row has a relative frequency of .15, and the second row has a relative frequency of .25, the cumulative relative frequency in the second row would be .15 (from the first row) plus .25 (from the second row), which equals .40. This process continues row by row until the last entry, which should total 1.00. Any rounding discrepancies can result in a cumulative relative frequency column that does not exactly sum to 1, but it should be very close to it.