# Math Help - how to make a frequency distribution of word length in a passage?

1. ## how to make a frequency distribution of word length in a passage?

(a) Count the number of letters in each word of the following passage, and make a frequency distribution of word length.

“The Virtual University of Pakistan delivers education through a judicious combination of broadcast television and the Internet. VU courses are written in meticulous detail by acknowledged experts in the field. Lectures are then recorded in a professional studio environment and after insertion of slides, movie clips and other material, become ready for broadcast. Course lectures are broadcast over television and are also made available in the form of multimedia CDs. The multiple formats allows for a high degree of flexibility for students who may view the lectures at a time of their choosing within a 24 hour period. Additionally, students can use the lectures to review an entire course before their examinations; a facility simply not available in the conventional face to face environment.

I will count the words but how would i make the frequency distribution.... Please help me out

2. Hello,

Well, count the words of 1, 2, etc... letters, then count the total number of words. Divide the number of words made of 5 letters, for example, by the total number of words and you'll get the frequency for 5 letters words

3. Originally Posted by Muhammad Waheed Afzal
(a) Count the number of letters in each word of the following passage, and make a frequency distribution of word length.

“The Virtual University of Pakistan delivers education through a judicious combination of broadcast television and the Internet. VU courses are written in meticulous detail by acknowledged experts in the field. Lectures are then recorded in a professional studio environment and after insertion of slides, movie clips and other material, become ready for broadcast. Course lectures are broadcast over television and are also made available in the form of multimedia CDs. The multiple formats allows for a high degree of flexibility for students who may view the lectures at a time of their choosing within a 24 hour period. Additionally, students can use the lectures to review an entire course before their examinations; a facility simply not available in the conventional face to face environment.

I will count the words but how would i make the frequency distribution.... Please help me out
Then count the number of 1-lettered words, the number of 2-lettered words, 3-lettered words, etc. And post the data here for me.

4. Originally Posted by Moo
Divide the number of words made of 5 letters, for example, by the total number of words and you'll get the frequency for 5 letters words
That will be the RELATIVE frequency, Moo

5. I don't know anything about "relative frequency" oO

6. Originally Posted by Moo
I don't know anything about "relative frequency" oO
Relative Freq = $\frac{f_i}{n}$

7. So you would divide de frequency by the number of words ? oO

8. Without too much trouble, you could load it a sentence at a time into a spreadsheet document, parse it on SPACES, and simply tell it to count the letters in each word. Once this is done, you can create the histogram any way you like.