histogram

The illustration, below, is a histogram showing the results of a final exam given to a hypothetical class of students. Each score range is denoted by a bar of a certain color. If this histogram were compared with those of classes from other years that received the same test from the same professor, conclusions might be drawn about intelligence changes among students over the years. Conclusions might also be drawn concerning the improvement or decline of the professor's teaching ability with the passage of time. If this histogram were compared with those of other classes in the same semester who had received the same final exam but who had taken the course from different professors, one might draw conclusions about the relative competence of the professors.

Some histograms are presented with the independent variable along the vertical axis and the dependent variable along the horizontal axis. That format is less common than the one shown here.

Compare pie graph.

Learn more about Software development fundamentals

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

More resources from around the web: - LuminousLandscape.com explains the use of histograms in digital photography. - Wikipedia also has an entry about histograms. - Microsoft explains the histogram tool in Excel.

FILE EXTENSION AND FILE FORMAT LIST File Extension and File Format List: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

RELATED CONTENT Software expert on Agile's rise, avoiding project management mistakes Software project management consultant opines on importance of agile development, common errors in PM, PM career preparation and more. Waterfall versus iterative development misconceptions Many programmers have an idea of what their finished product should look like but are confused on where to start and how to finish. Development expert... Agile development growing, but problems remain Despite success among businesses such as IBM, Agile development is still in its infancy. Adaptation and reorganization practices are making strides...

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary build tool  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) A build tool is a programming utility that automates a software build task, such as ensuring that the proper source code files are compiled and that... development environment  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com) In computer program and software product development, the development environment is the set of processes and programming tools used to create the...