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Frequency table

A frequency table counts how often each value shows up (absolute frequency). Relative frequency is that count over the total: 5 of 10 = 50%.

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In the survey, the morning shift got 18 "poor" ratings and the evening shift 10. Which shift gives worse service?

A store's service survey over one month. Example data.

What it's for: boiling a long column down to a few rows: how often each value shows up. It's the first step in seeing how your data is spread out.

Absolute or relative: absolute frequency is the count (5 "Good" answers in the example); relative frequency is the count divided by the total (5 out of 10 = 50%). To compare groups of different sizes, as in the figure, use relative frequency. Cumulative frequency keeps a running total: what share landed at that value or below.

Each relative frequency is a percentage. The value with the highest frequency is the mode. With numbers grouped into ranges, the table drawn as bars is a histogram. In Excel: =COUNTIF for one count, or a PivotTable for all of them.

Practice it in What is a histogram and how do you read it?.

How it's used

How to make one

Ten survey answers, in B2:B11

  1. The answers: Good, Poor, Good, Excellent, Fair, Good, Good, Fair, Excellent, Good
  2. Write each possible value once: Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent
  3. Count how often each one shows up: Poor 1, Fair 2, Good 5, Excellent 2Absolute frequency. In Excel: =COUNTIF(B2:B11, "Good")
  4. marked: Divide each count by the total: Poor 10%, Fair 20%, Good 50%, Excellent 20%Relative frequency. They add up to 100%.
  5. If the values have an order, keep a running total: 10%, 30%, 80%, 100%Cumulative frequency: 80% rated it good or lower.
With numbers (ages, amounts), first group them into equal-width ranges; drawn, that table is a histogram.

When to look closer

When =COUNTIF skips answers

40 answers in B2:B41

  1. marked: =COUNTIF(B2:B41, "Good")
  2. 11

There are 40 answers, but the table adds up to 39. What do you think happened to the missing one?

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Related terms

  • Percentage

    A percentage says how many parts out of every 100 something is. You get it by dividing the part by the total and multiplying by 100: 45 out of 180 customers is 45 ÷ 180 × 100 = 25%.

  • Mode (statistics)

    The mode is the value that shows up most; the mean is the average, and the median is the middle value. In 3, 5, 5, 8, 9: mean 6, median 5, mode 5.

  • Histogram

    A histogram shows how the values in a column of numbers are spread out: it cuts them into ranges of equal width and draws one bar per range, as tall as the number of values that fall in it.

  • Bar chart

    A bar chart compares amounts across categories: each bar is a category and its length is the number. Use it to see which branch sold the most.

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