AGR 207: Dr.

Kato Samuel Namuene

Google Classroom Code: ar5eb9a

I. Statistics

3. Data Presentation and Analysis

The main portion of Statistics is the display of summarized data. Data analysis starts with the
collection of data using the data various data collection techniques, and at this level, data is called
raw data because it is unprocessed and unstructured. Data collection is followed by data processing
by various data processing methods (manual, mechanical, electronic etc.) and sorting it. Processed
data helps in obtaining information from it as the raw data is non-comprehensive in nature. Data can
be presented and analysed using the following methods:

3.1 Textual Method

Raw data with proper formatting, categorisation, indentation is most extensively used and very effective
way of presenting data. Such format is widely found in books, reports, research papers etc. It involves
enumerating important characteristics, emphasizing significant figures and identifying important features
of data in written, paragraph form.

E.g.:
Buea, Muyuka,
Mundemba, Bangem,
Kumba, Mamfe,
Mundemba, Tiko
34 42 20 50 17 9 34 43
50 18 35 43 50 23 23 35
37 38 38 39 39 38 38 39
24 29 25 26 28 27 44 44

3.2 Frequency Tables

Frequency tables are generally produced on individual variables. A frequency table is a simple way to
display the number of occurrences of a particular value or characteristic. For categorical data, the table
records the number of observations for each unique value of the variable. For continuous data, you must
specify a set of intervals (or bins). The frequency table records the number of observations falling in each
interval.
Frequency distributions can show absolute frequencies or relative frequencies (and percentage relative
frequencies). Absolute frequency describes the number of times a particular value for a variable (data
item) has been observed to occur. Relative frequency describes the number of times a particular value
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for a variable has been observed to occur in relation to the total number of values for that variable. E.g.
if we have collected data about the number of crops in a plot at the FAVM Farmhouse, we could present
the findings as follows:

Maize plants Absolute frequency Relative frequency (%)

Maize 21 23
Okra 13 14
Tomatoes 19 21
Water melon 8 9
Water melon 7 8
Total 90 100%

From this frequency table we can quickly identify information such as 19 tomatoes plants (21% of all
plants) are in the plots, and that there are more maize plants (23% of all plants) than any other plant.

3.2.1 Constructing Frequency Tables

3.2.1.1 Ungrouped Data
Consider the following Data:
The number of fruits observed on some domesticated bush mango trees were as follows:
36 65 44 12 64 80 35 22 59 90
22 44 44 44 51 64 44 44 72 90
To construct a frequency table for this data:

Step 1:
Construct a table with three columns. The first column shows what is being arranged in ascending order
(i.e. the number of fruits). The lowest number of fruits is 12. So, start from 12 in the first column as
shown below.

Number of Fruits Tally Frequency

12
22
35
36
44
51
59
64
65
72
80
90
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Step 2:
Go through the list of number of fruits. You are going to use tallies (|, or ||, or |||, or ||||, or ||||) to facilitate
counting in your data. You can have maximum 5 tallies in a single group of tallies. The first number of
fruits in the list is 12, which appears in the list once, so put a single tally mark (|) against 12 in the second
column. The second number of fruits in the list is 22, which appears in the list twice, so put two tally
marks against 22 in the second column (||). You will notice that 6 trees had 44 fruits. In this case, you put
four tallies (||||) then strikethrough them (||||) and then start a new group of five (|||| |).

Number of Fruits Tally Frequency

12 |
22 ||
35 |
36 |
44 ||||| |
51 |
59 |
64 ||
65 |
72 |
80 |
90 ||

We continue this process until all number of fruits in the list are tallied.

Step 3:
Count the number of tally marks for each number of fruits and write it in third column. The finished
frequency table is as follows:
Number of Fruits Tally Frequency
12 | 1
22 || 2
35 | 1
36 | 1
44 |||| | 6
51 | 1
59 | 1
64 || 2
65 | 1
72 | 1
80 | 1
90 || 2

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Step 4:
Create a column after Frequency and calculate the relative frequency as follows:
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% Relative frequency = 3 ´ 100

Where,
f = Number of occurrences in an observation (frequency)
n = Total frequency

E.g. For the trees that have 12 fruits;

6
% Relative frequency = 78 ´ 100 = 5%

Number of Fruits Tally Frequency % Relative Frequency

12 | 1 5
22 || 2 10
35 | 1 5
36 | 1 5
44 |||| | 6 30
51 | 1 5
59 | 1 5
64 || 2 10
65 | 1 5
72 | 1 5
80 | 1 5
90 || 2 10
Total 20 100

The total % relative frequency is always 100, since it’s a percentage.

Exercise 1
A veterinarian decided to count the number of lice on each sick dog in her clinic. Below is the data she
got from 22 dogs;
19 20 40 19 19 31 30 42 42 19 31
19 19 19 42 31 31 31 19 19 18 40
Create a frequency distribution table which includes absolute and relative frequencies.