Histograms and bar graphs: what is the difference?

[fred2028]

What is the difference between histograms and bar graphs?
I read that histograms have classes and frequencies ... Kinda confusing.
Also I thought the bars of histograms had to be the same width?
Right now I think histograms are just bar graphs with bars that are joined together and can represent continuous data. Anyone want to help me distinguish the differences and similarities?

 

[stapel]

Your book should have defined these terms. Since it didn't, try reviewing some of the lessons available online for the desired clarification.

Eliz.

 

[royhaas]

A histogram is a bar graph where the heights of the bars represent the number of observations that fall within the interval defined by the endpoints representing the widths of the bars. So the horizontal axis represents a variable at the interval or ratio level of measurement. It can be used for continuous or discrete data. The bar graph or bar chart, on the other hand, has no restriction on either the horizontal or vertical direction. In particular, the vertical axis may represent a variable, for example, sales, while the horizontal can represent even a nominal variable such as a geographic region.

It is true that traditional histograms are bar graphs where the gaps between bars have been eliminated, especially when representing continuous data. Classes just refer to the sets into which data is divided for plotting purposes, while frequencies are the counts in the different classes.

 

[tkhunny]

Histograms provide a representation of a probability distribution. This is a subset of Bar Graphs, which are more generally a representation of some data. Whether things are connected or not (or if the widths are the same) is of little consequence to the data.