I need an example of constructing a frequency polygon and have never used excel. I know what I'm supposed to put on the graph, I just don't know how to construct one on a computer.
To construct a frequency polygon using Excel, you need to follow these steps:
Step 1: Prepare your data
- Open Microsoft Excel and create a new spreadsheet.
- Organize your data in two columns.
- In column A, enter the categories or class intervals.
- In column B, enter the corresponding frequency or count for each category or class.
Step 2: Calculate cumulative frequencies
- In column C, calculate the cumulative frequency by adding up the frequencies for each category.
- Start with the cell in Row 2 (C2).
- Enter the formula "=SUM($B$2:B2)" in cell C2 and drag this formula down to the last cell in column C.
Step 3: Create a line graph
- Select the data in columns A and C (including the headers).
- Go to the "Insert" tab and click on "Line" in the "Charts" group.
- Choose the basic line graph option without markers or any other additional features.
Step 4: Customize the graph
- Double-click on the horizontal axis (x-axis) to open the "Format Axis" pane.
- In the "Axis Options" tab, under "Axis Type," select "Text axis" if you have non-numeric categories.
- Close the pane by clicking outside the formatting options.
Step 5: Format the graph
- Right-click on the vertical axis (y-axis) and choose "Format Axis."
- In the "Axis Options" tab, choose the appropriate minimum and maximum values for the axis if needed.
- Adjust any other formatting options like axis labels, title, gridlines, etc., to enhance the graph's appearance.
Voila! You have constructed a frequency polygon in Excel.