This deep dive covers Creating Cumulative Frequency Tables within Cumulative Frequency for GCSE Mathematics. Revise Cumulative Frequency in Statistics for GCSE Mathematics with 14 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. It is section 4 of 11 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
Creating Cumulative Frequency Tables
Step-by-Step Process
- Start with grouped frequency table: Ensure data is in class intervals
- Identify upper boundaries: Use the upper limit of each class
- Calculate running totals: Add each frequency to the previous cumulative frequency
- Check your work: Final cumulative frequency should equal total number of data items
Example Calculation
Given frequencies: 5, 12, 15, 8, 3
Cumulative frequencies:
• First interval: 5
• Second interval: 5 + 12 = 17
• Third interval: 17 + 15 = 32
• Fourth interval: 32 + 8 = 40
• Fifth interval: 40 + 3 = 43 ✓
Cumulative frequencies:
• First interval: 5
• Second interval: 5 + 12 = 17
• Third interval: 17 + 15 = 32
• Fourth interval: 32 + 8 = 40
• Fifth interval: 40 + 3 = 43 ✓
Practice questions for Cumulative Frequency
Cumulative frequency is:
The graph shows the times for 60 students. The cumulative frequency at 40 seconds reads as 48. Estimate the number of students who took longer than 40 seconds to complete the puzzle.
Quick recall flashcards
How do you calculate cumulative frequency?
Start with the first frequency. For each subsequent class, add the current frequency to the previous cumulative frequency:
CF₂ = CF₁ + f₂
CF₃ = CF₂ + f₃, and so on.
What is cumulative frequency?
Cumulative frequency is the running total of frequencies up to and including each class. It shows how many data values fall below the upper boundary of each class.