Frequencies and Percentages: Discrete or Non-Continuous Data

As is often depicted in news analysis, the United States electorate is polarized between two political affiliations, namely, Red America and Blue America (Wolfson, 2006). Blue symbolizes the Democratic Party, while red symbolizes represents the Republican Party (Wolfson, 2006). Based on the political affiliation of electorates in each state, states can be divided into three categories, red states, blue states, and purple states. In the U.S., a red state is a state in which a majority of the electorate votes for the Republican candidate in a statewide election, whereas a blue state in which a majority of the electorate votes are for the Democratic candidates in a statewide election (Pariona, 2019a; Pariona, 2019b). In contrast, a purple state, which is also referred to as a swing state, is a state in which both Democratic and Republican candidates have a good chance of winning. Purple states are considered to play key roles in the outcome of a presidential election. This paper will delve into determining the political affiliation of each state in the U.S. The paper will then compute the frequency, percentage, percentage rank, and standardized score by political affiliation of all states. Lastly, a bar chart will be created to depict the frequencies of the political affiliation variable. 

Computations 

The frequency, percentage, percentage rank, and standardized score by political affiliation of all states were computed, which are shown below. A bar chart was created to depict the frequencies of the political affiliation variable. 

Frequency, Percentage, Percentile Rank, and Standardized Score 

Bar Chart 

The majority of the states in the U.S. are red states. The frequency of red states is high when compared to that of blue states and purple states. Based on the information obtained from the internet, in the U.S., there are 15 blue states, 21 red states, and 15 purple states. Percentage-wise, 29 percent, 41 percent, and 29 percent of the states in the U.S. are blue states, red states, and purple states, respectively. 

References 

Pariona, A. (2019a). List of red states (Republican States). [Online]. Retrieved April 3, 2020, from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/states-that-have-voted-republican-in-the-most-consecutive-u-s-presidential-elections.html 

Pariona, A. (2019b). List of blue states (Democratic States). [Online]. Retrieved April 3, 2020, from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/states-that-have-voted-democrat-in-the-most-consecutive-u-s-presidential-elections.html 

Wolfson, A. (2006).  Red and Blue Nation? Causes, Consequences, and Correction of America's Polarized Politics . Brookings Institution.