Does a histogram have to have class intervals or can there be just one figure?

I am doing a histogram for results from a psychological study into learning and interference. I used 10 words and asked participants to recall them, then an interference list. I want to put the frequency of each word recall into a histogram, but obviously I am plotting words-rather than figures- is this possible?! please help!Does a histogram have to have class intervals or can there be just one figure?
if you have frequency on the Y axis and the word on the X i dont think that would be a problem.





try it out and see, play with excel.Does a histogram have to have class intervals or can there be just one figure?
Looks like this thread is closed (resolved question). Just wanted to say that's a good answer from 'maffstee' and to reinforce his answer. With categorical data, such as words, you use a bar chart. If I could vote on this, maffstee gets my vote. Report Abuse

A histogram is used for quantitative (numerical) data and does need to have class intervals. The vertical axis should display frequency density rather than just frequency. For your data a histogram is not an appropriate choice. Words are an example of qualitative (non-numerical) data, for which a bar chart would be more appropriate. Good luck!