Grouping and Displaying data to convey meaning

Here the ages of 50 members of a county social service program

Use these data to construct relative frequency distributions using 7 equal intervals and 13 equal intervals. State policies on social service programs require that approximately 50 percent of the program participants be older than 50.

1. Is the program in compliance with the policy?
2. Does your 13-interval relative frequency distribution help you answer part (a) better than your 7-interval distribution?
3. Suppose the Director of Social Services wanted to know the proportion of program participants between 45 and 50 years old. Could you estimate the answer for her better with a 7- or a 13-interval relative frequency distribution?

Solution