[R] ?hist

[Owen, Jason]

Hello R users,

When using the hist() function, by default the y-axis
displays the counts for each bin (assuming equal bin
sizes).  By adding 'probability = TRUE' or 'freq = FALSE,
the y-axis displays the density (relative freq. / bin size),
but the help file for hist() seems to suggest that this
argument will display the relative frequency:

freq: logical; if `TRUE', the histogram graphic is a representation
          of frequencies, the `counts' component of the result; if
          `FALSE', relative frequencies (``probabilities''),
          component`density', are plotted.   Defaults to `TRUE' iff
          `breaks' are equidistant (and `probability' is not
          specified).

I understand that displaying the density is important
when the bin sizes are not all equal, but I think the help
file is not clear with what this argument does.

Jason
--
Assistant Professor of Statistics
Mathematics and Computer Science Department
University of Richmond, Virginia 23173
(804) 289-8081   fax:(804) 287-6664
http://www.mathcs.richmond.edu/~wowen