A table showing the joint or compound frequencies of occurrence of two or more variables or attributes. The simplest example is the so-called fourfold table in which two attributes A and B are each divided into two classes, say A1, A2, and B1, B2, thus giving rise to four possible combinations: (A1, B1), (A1, B2), (A2, B1), and (A2, B2). The contingency table then displays the frequency of each of the four combinations.