Partitions of other totals
Frequency tables are examples of a more general type of table in which a total is partitioned into several categories. The individual values can therefore be interpreted as parts of a whole.
A set of values describes a partition if the sums of pairs values and the total for the table are meaningful values.
It is important to recognise when a table describes a partition — some graphical methods that will be described in the next section are only appropriate for partitions.
World crude oil production
The table below shows the source of all crude oil produced in 2005.
Region | '000 barrels / day |
---|---|
North America Central & S America Europe Eurasia Middle East Africa Asia & Oceanea |
10,881 6,344 5,233 11,152 23,108 9,645 7,444 |
Total | 73,807 |
Although these values are not frequencies, their sum is the total world oil production in 2005 and the table partitions this total into seven regions. Note also that the sum of pairs of values can also be interpreted — the oil production for the Americas is (10,881 + 6,344).
Rainfall in Dakshin Dinajpur, India
The next table shows monthly rainfall in a district of India during 2006.
Month | Rainfall (mm) |
---|---|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
0.0 0.0 7.9 82.7 127.1 184.2 180.7 137.9 296.1 80.7 23.9 0.0 |
Total | 1121.2 |
These values are a partition of the total rainfall for the year. Sums of adjacent values can also be interpreted — for example, the total rainfall in the Spring (March-May) is (7.9 + 82.7 + 127.1).