Histogram
In statistics, a histogram is a graphical representation of the distribution of data. The histogram is represented by a set of rectangles, adjacent to each other, where each bar represent a kind of data. Statistics is a stream of mathematics that is applied in various fields. When numerals are repeated in statistical data, this repetition is known as Frequency and which can be written in the form of a table, called a frequency distribution. A Frequency distribution can be shown graphically by using different types of graphs and a Histogram is one among them. In this article, let us discuss in detail about what is a histogram, how to create the histogram for the given data, different types of the histogram, and the difference between the histogram and bar graph in detail.
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What is Histogram?
A histogram is a graphical representation of a grouped frequency distribution with continuous classes. It is an area diagram and can be defined as a set of rectangles with bases along with the intervals between class boundaries and with areas proportional to frequencies in the corresponding classes. In such representations, all the rectangles are adjacent since the base covers the intervals between class boundaries. The heights of rectangles are proportional to corresponding frequencies of similar classes and for different classes, the heights will be proportional to corresponding frequency densities.
In other words, a histogram is a diagram involving rectangles whose area is proportional to the frequency of a variable and width is equal to the class interval.
How to Plot Histogram?
You need to follow the below steps to construct a histogram.
- Begin by marking the class intervals on the X-axis and frequencies on the Y-axis.
- The scales for both the axes have to be the same.
- Class intervals need to be exclusive.
- Draw rectangles with bases as class intervals and corresponding frequencies as heights.
- A rectangle is built on each class interval since the class limits are marked on the horizontal axis, and the frequencies are indicated on the vertical axis.
- The height of each rectangle is proportional to the corresponding class frequency if the intervals are equal.
- The area of every individual rectangle is proportional to the corresponding class frequency if the intervals are unequal.
Although histograms seem similar to graphs, there is a slight difference between them. The histogram does not involve any gaps between the two successive bars.
When to Use Histogram?
The histogram graph is used under certain conditions. They are:
- The data should be numerical.
- A histogram is used to check the shape of the data distribution.
- Used to check whether the process changes from one period to another.
- Used to determine whether the output is different when it involves two or more processes.
- Used to analyse whether the given process meets the customer requirements.
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