HKSM

A bar chart that shows how often numeric values fall within continuous ranges (bins), revealing the distribution of the data.

Key Points

• Displays frequency of numerical data grouped into intervals (bins).
• Bars are adjacent to indicate continuous ranges, not separate categories.
• Helps detect shape, spread, central tendency, and outliers in the data.
• Common in quality management to analyze process variation and performance.

Example

A project manager collects cycle times for 150 service tickets and builds a histogram to see how the times are distributed, identify long-tail delays, and set realistic SLAs.

PMP Example Question

Which tool should a project manager use to visualize how frequently defect counts fall within specific ranges for each production batch?

1. Histogram
2. Pareto chart
3. Control chart
4. Scatter diagram

Correct Answer: A — Histogram

Explanation: A histogram is a bar chart that shows the frequency distribution of numerical data across intervals, which fits the need to see how often defect counts fall within ranges.