For an overview of discrete variables, you use frequency
tables and charts. A frequency table can show the following:
- The values
- The count of the values, or the absolute frequency
- The proportion of the value, or the absolute percentage
- The cumulative frequency
- The cumulative percent
- Plus, you can create a bar chart or a histogram of the values' absolute percentage
Minimally, you need to calculate the counts of the distinct values of the variable.
Let me start with calculating the frequencies with T-SQL. Window aggregate functions are very handy here. The following query is a very efficient one. If you look at the first part of the query, you'll notice that there is a common table expression (CTE) query that calculates the absolute numbers, or the counts. The cumulative values—the running totals—are calculated with the help of window aggregate functions.
The query calculates the frequencies of the CommuteDistance
variable from the dbo.vTargetMail...