A frequency distribution table is a chart that shows the frequency of a certain outcome occurring in a data sample. It's a great way to organize data to make it simple to read and understand. The Frequency Distribution Table image shows a couple different ways a frequency table can look. Some tables have three columns that show the possible outcomes, the tally marks for each outcome, and the number of each outcome, while some tables only have two columns and do not show the tally marks.

Making a Table

The first thing to do when making a frequency distribution table is to draw three columns on a piece of paper. Then, look through your data set and list all the possible outcomes in the data in the left column. Use the middle column to make tally marks for each time that particular outcome occurred in the data. When you've made a tally mark for each piece of data, count the tallies and write the corresponding numeral in the third column. Lastly, make sure to label each column. The first column will be labeled with a name that represents what kinds of outcomes the data represents. The second column will be labeled 'tally marks' and the third will be labeled 'frequency'.