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Frequency table

Page history last edited by Nick Jones 9 years, 11 months ago

frequency table is a display that records the totals of data when there is a single categorical variable and uses each category, in rows, to see counts of each category. Columns hold the counts. 

 

When we have a large number of categories, its often helpful to combine categories into larger groups. For example, if we were using a data set examining popular trees in the North America, we may want to group each species (i.e. grouping the Black Oak, Bur Oak and Live Oak all into the heading "Oak") into a larger heading. 

 

Having a count can be important and helpful, but often we want to have more information, such as the fraction or proportion of the data in each category. (Proportions are a more efficient way to see the true frequency of a category.) A relative frequency table is a frequency table that includes proportions or percentages in the columns; a relative frequency table is what we want to use to see proportions. With both tables we get to see how each case is distributed within the categories.

 

The data we use is measuring the level of blood pressure, reporting with three categories: low, normal, and high.  In SPSS, these tables are combined, and show both counts and frequencies. 

 

 

 

We see in the table a total of high, normal, and low occurrences. The counts show normal occurs 232 times, which appears to be most frequent. We also get to see the percentage, which shows us the true frequency; in this data set it happens to be most frequent. This is not always the case, so it is important to have the percent as well.   

 

How to Create a frequency table Using SPSS 

  • Click on the "Analyze" menu at the top of the page.

  • When the pop up window appears, highlight "Descriptive Statistics".
  • Another pop up window appears to the right;  click on the "Frequencies" menu.
  • When the pop up window for "Frequencies" appears, move all variables (that you want frequency tables for) to the right by highlighting each variable and clicking the arrow in the center. You can also move the variables by dragging them with your mouse. 
  • Now click "OK".
  • Your frequency table will appear in the "SPSS Output Window".

How to rearrange category rows on the frequency table in SPSS

  • Select the frequency table by double clicking anywhere on the table. 
  • Select the desired row by clicking twice (be sure to leave a pause between clicks-do not double click, this does something else).
  • After the full row is highlighted, you can drag and drop the row to the desired row location on your frequency table to create a more logical order.

                    

 

The video below will demonstrate steps on how to create a frequency table using SPSS 

2014-04-21_2324

 

Comments (1)

Nick Jones said

at 4:09 pm on Apr 8, 2014

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