The frequency role in an analysis ("Freq") is not meant in the sense of time: daily, weekly, monthly, annually. Instead, it is meant in the sense of number of occurrences. It expects a count of the number of rows with the same observation levels. It is not a requirement to use this role. It is a convenience.
Here is an example with each observation of protein on its own row. (Row equals observation)
![tall.JPG tall.JPG](https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/26027i67E7AA9B7440DF0E/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999)
I can examine the distribution of Protein with this launch dialog without the Freq role.
![tall launch.JPG tall launch.JPG](https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/26028i25BF7B33F03FF8A8/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999)
I get this platform.
![tall result.JPG tall result.JPG](https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/26029iB87D6B6109D68594/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999)
But sometimes the data is available as a summary.
![short.JPG short.JPG](https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/26030i825A49FE7BBE8393/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999)
I could manually expand this short data table (5 rows) so that each type of protein has the correct number of rows in a tall table (100 rows), but the Freq role does that for me internally.
![short launch.JPG short launch.JPG](https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/26031i408AD86DD71A39B6/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999)
The result is the same because the data is the same.
![short result.JPG short result.JPG](https://community.jmp.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/26032iC29372D5D4D4FE81/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999)
So the Freq role is a convenience, a way to let JMP know that this single row represents one or more observations. It is not frequency in the sense of time. It is not a weight. (Each observation still has a weight of 1.)