Which graphical display shows the distribution of observations in each class with bars?

Which graphical display shows the distribution of observations in each class with bars?

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

Answer: (A)

A histogram is used to display how observations are distributed across class intervals with bars. Each bar corresponds to a class (an interval of values), and its height shows the number of observations in that class (or the relative frequency). The bars are typically drawn to touch each other, which emphasizes the continuous nature of the data and helps reveal the overall shape of the distribution—whether it’s skewed, bimodal, uniform, etc. Stem-and-leaf displays present data values in a compact, ordered form rather than a bar chart of class intervals, so they don’t show distribution with bars across classes. A relative frequency distribution might be shown as a table or as a bar chart of proportions, but the common, textbook way to illustrate distribution across classes with bars is the histogram. A cumulative frequency distribution shows running totals up to each value and is usually plotted as a line or ogive, not as individual bars per class.

A histogram is used to display how observations are distributed across class intervals with bars. Each bar corresponds to a class (an interval of values), and its height shows the number of observations in that class (or the relative frequency). The bars are typically drawn to touch each other, which emphasizes the continuous nature of the data and helps reveal the overall shape of the distribution—whether it’s skewed, bimodal, uniform, etc.

Stem-and-leaf displays present data values in a compact, ordered form rather than a bar chart of class intervals, so they don’t show distribution with bars across classes. A relative frequency distribution might be shown as a table or as a bar chart of proportions, but the common, textbook way to illustrate distribution across classes with bars is the histogram. A cumulative frequency distribution shows running totals up to each value and is usually plotted as a line or ogive, not as individual bars per class.