Question

what does the number in the bottom right - hand corner of a two - way frequency table represent?
it is the total number of data points in the data set, which is also the maximum of the row totals or the column totals.
it is the row total number of data points in the data set, which is also the difference of the row totals or the column totals.
it is the column number of data points in the data set, which is also the difference of the row totals or the column totals.
it is the total number of data points in the data set, which is also the sum of the row totals or the column totals.

Explanation:

In a two - way frequency table, the number in the bottom right - hand corner is calculated by adding all the row totals (or all the column totals). This gives the total number of data points in the data set. For example, if we have row totals \(r_1,r_2,\cdots,r_n\), the total \(T=\sum_{i = 1}^{n}r_i\). Similarly, if we have column totals \(c_1,c_2,\cdots,c_m\), \(T=\sum_{j = 1}^{m}c_j\). It is not the maximum (as there are values less than it in the table), not the difference (since adding gives a more comprehensive count of all data points), and not just a row or column total (but a sum of all rows or columns).

Answer:

It is the total number of data points in the data set, which is also the sum of the row totals or the column totals.