Ogive

Ogives are also known as cumulative frequency polygons because they are drawn on the basis of cumulative frequencies. They graphically show the total in a distribution at any given time. Ogives may also be used to determine where a particular observation stands in relation to all the other observations in the analyzed sample or population. In other words, they are useful in calculating percentiles and percentile ranks, particularly the median, the first and third quartiles, and the interquartile range (IQR). They may also be used for comparing data from two or more different samples or populations. This entry focuses on the process of constructing an ogive for both ungrouped and grouped data and on the usage of ogives to calculate percentiles and percentile ranks.