In 2007 I twice posted the following enquiry to Allstat but neither
post elicited any examples of professional use and I still have not
seen any published paper where the convention is used. Does anyone
use it for any purpose other than to construct cryptic puzzles for
learners?
> I have been told that GCSE and A-level statistics examinations require the Y
> axis of a histogram to be labelled "Frequency density", with the appropriate
> units mentioned..
>
> When I asked for examples of this usage in published histograms displaying real
> data I was referred to textbooks for these examinations. Can anyone point me to
> examples from professional practice in any field?
> I had a few replies, of which some indicated familiarity with this
> labelling for histograms. However, none yielded any reference to a
> published example.
>
> If examinations demand this type of labelling, textbooks will obviously
> use it and it is appropriate for histograms with variable bin size or
> vanishingly narrow bin size. But does anyone else use it when reporting
> data?
>
> I don't need a full reference (though it would be useful) because I am
> willing to search on the basis of even a vague indication of where to
> look.
Sandy MacRae
Hon. Senior Research Fellow
School of Psychology
The University of Birmingham
Telephone or Fax: +44 (0)121 247 6138
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