Percentage

Commonly used in statistics together with proportions to compare the number of cases in a specific category to the number of cases in all categories. It helps to supply a frame of reference for reporting results and is a technique to standardize the raw data.

Using a percentage instead of only raw data can make it easier to understand statistics. Instead of saying 2543 of 4535 students at the university are female; you can say that 56% of the students at the university are female, which makes it much easier to understand. Percentage is mostly used in statistics when you deal with larger numbers, preferably more than 20. If you have less than 20 cases it would be easier to use only the actual frequencies.

The formula for calculating percentage is: Percentage: % = f / N x 100 where f = frequency (the number of cases in any category) N= the total number of cases in all categories

An example is our case with 2543 female students at a university with 4535 students in total. 2543 / 4535 = 0,56 x 100 = 56%

When you use percentage is statistics you should always state the total number of cases (N), which enables the reader to review how accurate your statistics are based on the sample size. This is very important information to give since there is a vast difference between 10% of only 10 people or 10% of a hundred people when it comes to accuracy. You can use percentage in both nominal, ordinal and numerical level of measurement. Percentage do not require a division of scores only a division of the number of cases in one category and can therefore be used in all levels of measurement.