ASSIGNMENT ON PAPER 6

TOPIC: GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION - HISTOGRAM

Submitted by :
Laltlanthangi
Roll No : 231
BA Vth Semester
Department of Education,
Government Aizawl College

GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION - HISTOGRAM

A histogram is a graphical representation of the distribution of numerical data. It is an
estimate of the probability distribution of a continuous variable (quantitative variable) and was
first introduced by Karl Pearson.
A histogram is very similar to the bar chart for a frequency distribution based on
quantitative data showing the distribution of qualitative data. It is a useful graphical
representation of data which helps to visualize the distribution of data. Histogram is constructed
from the grouped data by taking the class boundaries (not class limits) along x-axis and the
corresponding frequencies along y-axis. For ungrouped data we have to form the grouped
frequency distribution before making a histogram.
Histogram consists of a set of bars (like bar chart) but these bars are adjacent to each other
and the height of bars is proportional to the frequency associated with respective classes. The area
of each rectangle represented the respective class frequencies. When the class intervals are equal,
the rectangles all have the same width and their heights directly represent the class frequencies.
For the case in which class-intervals are not all equal, the height of the rectangle (bar) over an
unequal class-interval, is to be adjusted because it is area, and not height that measures frequency.
This means that the height of a rectangle must be proportionally decreased if the length of the
corresponding class-interval increases. For example, if the length of a class-interval becomes
double, then the height of the rectangle is to be halved so that area, being the fundamental
property of the rectangle of a histogram remains unchanged. This sort of rescaling is necessary to
observe the correct pattern of distribution.
The feature of histogram is that there is no gap (space) Histogram between the vertical
bars, because the variable plotted on the horizontal axis is quantitative and variable is from
measure of scale either interval or ratio. Thus, the histogram provides an easy interpreted visual
representation of a frequency distribution. The class midpoints are used as the labels for the
classes.
Histogram allow us to analyze extremely large datasets by reducing them to a single
graphical representation which is used to show primary, secondary and tertiary peaks in data and
also help us by giving a visual representation of the statistical significance of those peaks.

The advantages of the histogram as compared to the unprocessed data are:

1. It gives range of the data.
2. It gives location of the data.
3. it gives clue about the skewness of the data.
4. It gives information about the out of control situation.
5. Histogram are density estimates (gives a good impression of the distribution of
Data.
6. It can be compared to normal curve.
Disadvantages
1. Exact values cannot be read from histogram because data is grouped into
categories and individuality of data vanishes in grouped data.
2. It is more difficult it compare two data sets.
3. It is used only for continuous data set.

There are two cases while creating histogram:

a) Histogram in case of Class Interval with equal Width
The following distribution relates to the marks secured by the students of a college in education.
This is presented in a histogram.
:

Marks

No. of Students :

0-5

5-10

10-15

15

25

15-20
50

20-25
40

25-30

30-35

30

10

35-40
5

The data in this illustration has been given in the form of continuous frequency distribution with
exclusive type. So the given class intervals, as it is, will be taken on X axis. As all the class
intervals are of the same sue, by denoting their length by one unit, each class interval will be of
one unit width. Dividing frequency (i.e. area of rectangle) by this width, the height of the
rectangles will be equal to their frequencies.
No of students

Marks

(Area)

Width Units (Base)

Frequency Density
(Height)

0-5

5/1 =5

5-10

15

15/1 = 15

10-15

25

25/1 = 25

15-20

50

50/1 = 50

20-25

40

40/1 =40

25-30

30

30/1 =30

30-35

10

10/1 =10

35- 40

5/1 =5

The height will be taken on Y axis. Now on both X axis and Y axis mark the scale in a
suitable manner. To construct the histogram. we will construct rectangles on the base bar as class
intervals, with height equal to the value derived as above. The histogram is drawn and presented
in Graph 1.

Graph 1: Histogram Showing the Marks of Students in Statistics (Class Intervals with Equal
Width)

b) Histogram in case of Class Interval with Unequal Width

It is likely that the frequency distribution has class intervals with unequal width. Under
such circumstances, the frequencies of the class intervals and frequency density will differ. The
class interval with the normal width is taken as the basis for making the necessary adjustments in
other class intervals. The adjusted frequencies or the frequency density of the other class intervals
can also be calculated as follows :Adjusted Frequency of any class =
This method of adjustment will give the same value of height of rectangle as by the
method pointed in the previous example. Under this method also the area of the rectangle
represents the frequency.
The following distribution relating to the marks secured by the students of a class in accountancy.
Marks

: 0-5

No. of .Students

: 5

5-10 10-15 15-20

I5

25

50

20-25 25-30 30-40 40-60

40

30

20

16

In this illustration the width of the various classes are not equal. Hence, necessary adjustment
should be made in the frequencies of some of the class intervals. Taking 5 (the smallest width) as
the normal width, the frequencies of two classes i.e., 30-40 and 40-60 will be adjusted as follows:
For Class 30-40, the adjusted frequency or frequency density will be = 5/10 x 20 = 10.
For Class 40-60, the adjusted frequency or frequency density will be = 5/20 x 16 =4.
Let us also calculate the frequency density by the method pointed out in the Illustration 1 and
study whether the two methods give the same value for height or not.
The histogram has been constructed and presented in Graph 2

Graph 2: Histogram Showing the Marks of Student (Class Intervals with unequal width)

References :
1) http://onlinestatbook.com/2/graphing_distributions/histograms.html
2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histogram
3) http://itfeature.com/statistics/histogram
4) IGNOU B.com. Economics