Histogram
Definition
A histogram is a graphical representation that displays the distribution or frequency of data in intervals or bins. It consists of bars where the height represents the frequency or count within each interval.
Analogy
Think about going to a concert and seeing different sections divided by barriers. The height and width of each section represent how many people are standing in that area. Similarly, in a histogram, each bar represents an interval and its height represents how many data points fall into that interval.
Related terms
Frequency Polygon: A line graph that connects the midpoints of each interval in a histogram.
Skewness: A measure indicating whether the data is skewed to one side or another.
Outliers: Data points that significantly differ from other observations in the dataset.
"Histogram" appears in:
Study guides (5)
AP Statistics - 1.5 Representing a Quantitative Variable with Graphs
AP Statistics - 1.6 Describing the Distribution of a Quantitative Variable
AP Statistics - 2.1 Introducing Statistics: Are Variables Related?
AP Statistics - 4.7 Introduction to Random Variables and Probability Distributions
AP Statistics - 5.1 Introducing Statistics: Why Is My Sample Not Like Yours?
Practice Questions (6)
- Given an image of a histogram, how can you determine if a histogram is symmetric?
- Records are kept by each state in the United States on the number of pupils enrolled in public schools and the number of teachers employed by public schools for each school year. From these records, the ratio of the number of pupils to the number of teachers (P-T ratio) can be calculated for each state. The histograms displayed through frequency tables below show the P-T ratio for every state during the 2001–2002 school year. Histogram for states west of the Mississippi River (frequency table): P-T Ratio Frequency 10-12 3 12-14 4 14-16 5 16-18 6 18-20 3 20-22 3 Histogram for states east of the Mississippi River (frequency table): P-T Ratio Frequency 10-12 2 12-14 4 14-16 6 16-18 7 18-20 5 20-22 2 Based on the histograms, which of the following statements is correct?
- How can shape of a histogram be used to compare distributions?
- When comparing two distributions using histograms, what does it mean if one histogram has a taller and narrower peak compared to the other?
- When comparing two distributions using histograms, what does it mean if one histogram has taller bars compared to the other?
- Two histograms are given to compare the ages of participants in two different events. Histogram A has a unimodal shape and is symmetric, while Histogram B has a unimodal shape but is skewed to the right. What can be concluded about the ages of participants in the two events?
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