Which of the following statements about PROC FREQ is true?

PROC FREQ is a procedure in SAS that is specifically designed to analyze categorical data. It generates frequency counts, which indicate how often each value (or category) occurs within a dataset. This is particularly useful for understanding the distribution of categorical variables, such as nominal and ordinal data types.

In addition to frequency counts, PROC FREQ can also provide proportions, cumulative frequencies, and display information in various formats, like tables and charts. By summarizing the data in this way, it allows users to gain insights into the distributions of different categories and see comparisons among them effectively.

The other options do not correctly describe the capabilities of PROC FREQ. For instance, it does not calculate statistical means for numeric variables—that function falls under the remit of PROC MEANS. Additionally, PROC FREQ is not similar to PROC MEANS, as the latter is used for continuous numeric variables, emphasizing averages and other statistics rather than counts of categories. Lastly, PROC FREQ can handle both numeric and character values; it is not limited to numeric variables alone. Hence, the statement about its focus on providing frequency counts for categorical data accurately represents the purpose and functionality of PROC FREQ.