In a relative frequency distribution, what does each $\mathrm{relative\; frequency}$ represent?

• A. The absolute number of observations in each class
• B. The difference between the $\mathrm{highest}$ and $\mathrm{lowest}$ values in the data set
• C. The cumulative sum of $\mathrm{frequencies}$ up to each class
• D. The proportion of observations in each class compared to the total number of observations, i.e., $\frac{\mathrm{frequencyext\{\; in\; class\}}}{\mathrm{totalext\{\; frequency\}}}$

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that a relative frequency distribution shows how the total number of observations is divided among different classes or categories.
2. Recognize that each relative frequency is calculated by dividing the frequency (the count of observations) of a particular class by the total number of observations in the data set.
3. Express this calculation mathematically as: \(\text{Relative Frequency} = \frac{\text{Frequency of a class}}{\text{Total number of observations}}\).
4. Interpret the relative frequency as the proportion or fraction of the total data that falls within each class, which helps compare the sizes of different classes relative to the whole.
5. Note that relative frequencies are useful for understanding the distribution of data in terms of proportions rather than absolute counts, making it easier to compare data sets of different sizes.