Modifying a frequency table

Sometimes a frequency table can be modified to make the information clearer or to highlight particular aspects.

Reordering categories
If there is a natural ordering of the categories, they should be arranged in this order. Otherwise it often helps to sort the categories by their frequencies.

Alphabetic ordering of the categories is rarely best.

Combining categories
The information in the table may be clearer if associated categories are combined. (The frequencies and percentages of the combined categories should be added.)
Looking at subsets of categories
It may be useful to look only at the distribution of a subset of categories — i.e. a sub-group of the individuals. (The percentages should be divided by the total for the displayed categories, so they still add to 100%.