Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
A histogram is a specific type of chart built from bars that touch each other, and this shape is chosen for a reason tied to the type of data being shown.
Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Data can be discrete (separate, countable categories) or continuous (values that flow smoothly across a range, such as height or weight measured in class intervals). Bar diagrams use gapped bars for discrete data, while histograms use touching bars for continuous data.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
Because a continuous variable has no natural breaks between one class interval and the next, the bars representing them are drawn flush against each other in a histogram, visually showing that the data flows without interruption. A cumulative frequency distribution is instead shown as an ogive, a rising line graph, not a set of bars at all.
Step 4: Final Answer:
A histogram can be drawn only for a continuous frequency distribution.