What does a frequency table describe?

• A. The number of occurrences of a particular type of datum within a dataset
• B. The average value of the data
• C. The relationship between two variables
• D. The distribution of data across time

Answer: (A)

A frequency table describes how often each value or category occurs in a dataset. It tallies the number of times each datum appears, turning raw data into a clear count for every category or value. This helps you see which values are most common and how the data are distributed across categories.

This is different from calculating an average, which summarizes central tendency, or from examining the relationship between two variables, which requires a different type of analysis like a scatter plot. It also isn’t about changes over time unless time is treated as a category; for trends, you’d use a time-based chart. For example, if you survey favorite fruit, a frequency table would show how many people chose each fruit, like apples 14, bananas 9, cherries 7, and so on.