How can PROC FREQ be used in SAS?

PROC FREQ is a powerful SAS procedure used primarily for analyzing categorical data. The procedure calculates frequency counts, which are the number of occurrences of each unique value of a variable. Additionally, it can compute percentages, providing insight into the distribution of the data. By summarizing categorical variables in this way, PROC FREQ helps users to understand the relationships and trends within their dataset effectively.

The focus of PROC FREQ is specifically on frequency analysis, which makes it unsuitable for tasks such as performing linear regression analysis, managing datasets, or sorting data. Each of these tasks requires different procedures and capabilities that are part of SAS’s extensive functionalities but are not addressed by PROC FREQ. This distinction highlights the unique role of PROC FREQ in data analysis workflows, particularly in exploring and summarizing categorical data.