Questions

What is Data Presentation?

What are the forms od Data Presentation? Enumerate and give examples.

Answers:

DATA PRESENTATION

Presenting the data includes the pictorial representation of the data by using
graphs, charts, maps and other methods. These methods help in adding the visual
aspect to data which makes it much more comfortable and easy to understand. This
visual representation of data is called as data presentation.

FORMS OF DATA PRESENTATION

BAR CHARTS
Bar charts are ideal for information comparison and uses either horizontal or vertical
bars (column chart) to show numerical comparison. The bars represent different
categories of data. The length of each bar represents its value.
When to use — To compare data across categories.

An online poll was created to determine the most watched movie genres in Netflix by
the viewers. The kinds of movie genres are on x-axis and the number of viewers on y-
axis.

Most watched Movie Genre

Line charts reveal trends or progress over a period of time. It is a good way to visualize
continuous data set or a sequence of values. Best suited for trend based data and
analyzing the rate of change over a period of time.
Values are plotted on line chart and the data points are connected to show a trend.
Multiple trends can be highlighted and compared by plotting lines of different colours.
When to use — To compare data across categories.

Example:
A bar charts shows the daily earnings of a store in five days.
X-axis: days of the week
Y-axis: earnings

Store Earnings
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri

PIE CHART

Pie charts are used to show a data composition, typically for representing numbers as
proportions or percentages of information — A part to whole. The sum total of all
proportions being 100%.
When to use — To Show proportions/percentage

Example:
A student budgeted his allowance.
 Budget

10%

Meals/Snacks
15% Transportation
Materials
50% Savings

25%

SCATTER PLOTS

Scatter plots are mostly used in correlation and distribution analysis. This is a type of
graph that helps to determine if relationship between two variables exists or not. An
effective visual tool to show trends, concentrations and outliers in distribution of data.
When to use — To investigate the relationship between different variables.

Scatter Plot Visual — Cool Drinks Sales on a sunny day.

HEAT MAPS

Heat maps are used mostly for information comparison. It provides a level of activity or
a rating information (e.g High to Low, Strongest to Weakest, Excellent to Poor), all
displayed using different colours.
When to use — To show the relationship between two factors.
 HISTOGRAM CHART
Histogram chart is used to see how data are distributed across groups. This is different
from a Bar Chart. Like a bar chart, a histogram is made up of columns but with no gaps
between the columns. Histograms present continuous data while bar chart presents
categorical data (data that fits into categories).
When to use — To understand the distribution of data.
 Text Presentation
Text is the main method of conveying information as it is used to explain results and
trends, and provide contextual information. Data are fundamentally presented in
paragraphs or sentences. Text can be used to provide interpretation or emphasize
certain data. If quantitative information to be conveyed consists of one or two numbers,
it is more appropriate to use written language than tables or graphs
For example, “the 2002 earthquake proved to be a mass murderer of humans. As many
as 10,000 citizens have been reported dead”. The textual representation of data simply
requires some intensive reading. This is because the quantitative statement just serves
as an evidence of the qualitative statements and one has to go through the entire text
before concluding anything.

Table Presentation
Tables, which convey information that has been converted into words or numbers in
rows and columns, have been used for nearly 2,000 years. Anyone with a sufficient
level of literacy can easily understand the information presented in a table. Tables are
the most appropriate for presenting individual information, and can present both
quantitative and qualitative information.

The table shows the daily earnings of a store for five days.

Day Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri