In a frequency distribution, what does the height of each bar represent?

In a frequency distribution, what does the height of each bar represent?

• A. The mean value
• B. The width of the category
• C. The frequency (count) of scores
• D. The percent of total scores in the category

Answer: (C)

In a frequency distribution, the height of each bar shows how many scores fall into that category—the frequency count. A taller bar means more observations in that category, and a shorter bar means fewer. The mean is a single number describing the data's center, not a bar height. The width of the bar relates to how wide the category is on the axis, not how many data points it contains. Percent or relative frequency could be shown if the chart is designed as a relative-frequency display, but in a standard frequency distribution the height reflects the actual counts.

In a frequency distribution, the height of each bar shows how many scores fall into that category—the frequency count. A taller bar means more observations in that category, and a shorter bar means fewer. The mean is a single number describing the data's center, not a bar height. The width of the bar relates to how wide the category is on the axis, not how many data points it contains. Percent or relative frequency could be shown if the chart is designed as a relative-frequency display, but in a standard frequency distribution the height reflects the actual counts.