How to Find the Midpoint in a Grouped Frequency Distribution

A grouped frequency distribution is a table of the values on some continuous variable, divided into groups. For example, if you were collecting data on income, you might ask people whether their income was under $20,000, $20,000 to $39,999, $40,000 to $59,999, $60,000 to $99,999 or $100,000 or more.

The midpoint, or median, of a continuous variable is the point where half the data are above and half are below.

Instructions

    • 1

      Find the total number of respondents. For example, suppose the results of your survey about income are:

      Under $20,000 - 5 people

      $20,000 to $39,999 - 10 people

      $40,000 to $59,999 - 15 people

      $60,000 to $99,999 - 11 people

      $100,000 or more - 9 people

      The total number of people is 5 + 10 + 15 + 11 + 9 = 50.

    • 2

      Divide that number in half. In the example, 50/2 = 25. If the number in Step 1 is odd, you can round it down (it will make little difference).

    • 3

      Add the number of people in each category until you exceed the number in Step 2. In the example, 5 people are in the lowest category, 5 + 10 = 15 people are in one of the lowest two categories and 5 + 10 + 15 = 30 people are in one of the lowest three categories. Thirty is more than 25, so stop here.

    • 4

      Subtract the number in Step 2 from the final sum in Step 3. In the example, 30-25 = 5.

    • 5

      Divide the number in Step 4 by the number of people in the highest category included in Step 3. In the example, 5/15 = 0.333.

    • 6

      Subtract the lower limit from the upper limit in the highest category in Step 3. In the example, $59,999 - $40,000 = $19,999.

    • 7

      Multiply the result in Step 5 by the result in Step 6. In the example, 0.333*$19,999 = $6,659.67.

    • 8

      Add the result in Step 7 to the lower limit of the highest category in Step 3. This is the midpoint. In the example, $40,000 + $6,659.67 = $46,659.67.

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