In a two-way table, what is a marginal frequency?

In a two-way table, what is a marginal frequency?

• A. The frequency for a single cell
• B. The total frequency for any row or column
• C. The ratio of a cell frequency to the grand total
• D. The product of two marginal frequencies

Answer: (B)

In a two-way table, a marginal frequency is the total count for a row or a column—the overall total for one variable while ignoring the other. It shows how many observations belong to a given category across all values of the other variable. For example, the marginal frequency for a row sums all the cell counts in that row, and the marginal frequency for a column sums all the counts in that column. The grand total is the sum of all frequencies in the table. The other ideas—the frequency in a single cell (a specific combination), the ratio of a cell to the grand total (a proportion), or a product of two marginal frequencies (not a standard summary here)—are different concepts.

In a two-way table, a marginal frequency is the total count for a row or a column—the overall total for one variable while ignoring the other. It shows how many observations belong to a given category across all values of the other variable. For example, the marginal frequency for a row sums all the cell counts in that row, and the marginal frequency for a column sums all the counts in that column. The grand total is the sum of all frequencies in the table. The other ideas—the frequency in a single cell (a specific combination), the ratio of a cell to the grand total (a proportion), or a product of two marginal frequencies (not a standard summary here)—are different concepts.