Different types of data need to be presented in different ways. This section describes various fictional data sets and suggests how each should be displayed. The best way of displaying data depends on what kind of data is collected and what the user wishes to demonstrate with it$.$

A$($n$)$ distribution shows what values have occurred and how often they occurred. For example, Exhibit A shows a city$$s monthly rainfall values $($rounded to the nearest cm$)$ over the past six years and how many months each value occurred.

The first column shows the values of rainfall and the second column indicates how many times each value occurred $($its frequency$).$