Business, Legal & Accounting Glossary
statistics A graphical display of numerical data in the form of upright bars, with the area of each bar representing frequency.
A histogram is a graph that shows how many times an event occurs across various groups of data or classes. A histogram can give an approximate idea of the frequency distribution of the given data. To construct a histogram, the classes are usually plotted against the x-axis and the frequencies are shown on the y-axis. In appearance, a histogram looks like a series of rectangular bars adjacent to each other – very similar to a bar chart. You may also come across the term ‘bins’ being used instead of classes. The selection of the bin size is important. Indeed, an histogram with a bin size too large may hide key information whereas a bin size too small may highlight random data patterns. The height of each rectangle is equal to the frequency for that particular class (i.e. bin). By looking at a histogram you may be able to identify the shape of the frequency distribution (i.e chi-square, normal, etc.) It is also possible to visualize if the distribution is skewed or symmetric. The mode can also be determined through a histogram. The frequency that corresponds to the tallest rectangle in a histogram is the mode for that distribution. Statisticians often use a boxplot in conjunction with an histogram in data analysis.
To help you cite our definitions in your bibliography, here is the proper citation layout for the three major formatting styles, with all of the relevant information filled in.
Definitions for Histogram are sourced/syndicated and enhanced from:
This glossary post was last updated: 9th February, 2020 | 0 Views.