Cumulative frequency diagrams

Cumulative frequency – Intermediate & Higher tier - WJECCumulative frequency diagrams

Cumulative frequency tables are often used to display large data sets of continuous or discrete data. Histograms are used to display data when the group sizes are different.

Let’s look at how we represent cumulative data graphically.

Two column table of 'Length' and 'Cumulative Frequency'

When we plot data from the table we do so at the upper bound of the group. Notice that the cumulative frequency is plotted on the y-axis and length on the x-axis in the graph below. This will always be the case with these diagrams.

This cumulative frequency diagram is a representation of the table: