Which concept represents the running total of percentages as you move down a frequency table?

Which concept represents the running total of percentages as you move down a frequency table?

• A. Histogram
• B. Cumulative frequency distribution
• C. Stem-and-leaf display
• D. Relative frequency distributions

Answer: (B)

The concept being tested is the cumulative frequency distribution. As you move down a frequency table and add each class’s frequency to the totals above, you build a running total that shows how many observations fall at or below each point. If you express those frequencies as percentages, the running total becomes the cumulative relative frequency (a cumulative proportion of the data) and you can see, at each step, what portion of the data lies at or below that class. This differs from a histogram, which is a graph of frequencies (or relative frequencies) by class rather than a running total. A stem-and-leaf display is just a way to organize raw data values, not a running total. Relative frequency distributions show the proportion in each class by itself, not the accumulating total. The cumulative approach links those individual percentages into a running sum, which is why it’s the best description of the running total of percentages in a table.

The concept being tested is the cumulative frequency distribution. As you move down a frequency table and add each class’s frequency to the totals above, you build a running total that shows how many observations fall at or below each point. If you express those frequencies as percentages, the running total becomes the cumulative relative frequency (a cumulative proportion of the data) and you can see, at each step, what portion of the data lies at or below that class.

This differs from a histogram, which is a graph of frequencies (or relative frequencies) by class rather than a running total. A stem-and-leaf display is just a way to organize raw data values, not a running total. Relative frequency distributions show the proportion in each class by itself, not the accumulating total. The cumulative approach links those individual percentages into a running sum, which is why it’s the best description of the running total of percentages in a table.