ORGANIZING AND VISUALIZING VARIABLES

Tables and charts for Nominal data

Nominal
data
Summary
tables

Bar charts Pie charts

EXAMPLE 2.1 WORK STATUS IN THE GSS
2012 SURVEY
 THE FREQUENCY TABLE

Observations were recorded for 2021 individuals.

The observations can be summarized using a table as follows

Here characteristics along with values are presented in the form of table
GRAPHING QUALITATIVE DATA SETS
• Pie Chart
 A circle is divided into sectors that represent categories.
 The area of each sector is proportional to the frequency
of each category.
 Find the relative frequency (percent) of each category
Construct the pie chart using the central angle that corresponds to each
category. To find the central angle, multiply 360º by the category's
relative frequency.
BAR CHARTS

• A vertical bar graph in

which the height of each
bar represents frequency or
relative frequency.
• The width between each bar
is uniform.
 ACTIVITY

Car buyers were asked to indicate the car dealer they believed
offered the best overall service. The four choices were Convoy
Motors (C), Mako Chrysler (M), Torrent Auto (T), and
Unequaled Chevrolet (U). The following data were obtained

What percentage of car buyers identified Convoy Motors as

having the best overall service?
DESCRIBING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TWO OR
MORE NOMINAL VARIABLES

Consider this table for Newspaper Readership Survey

SIDE BY SIDE GRAPH
TABLES AND CHARTS FOR NUMERICAL DATA

Histogram
Frequency Polygon
distribution/
cumulative
distribution
Ogive
Numerical

Stem and leaf

Ordered array display
Dot plot
 ORDERED ARRAY

 A sequence of data in rank order:

• 24, 26, 24, 21, 27, 27, 30, 41, 32, 38
 Order min to max ( shows range)
• 21, 24, 24, 26, 27, 27, 30, 32, 38, 41
 Provide some signals about variability within the
range and may help to identify outliers
 If the data set large or highly variable, the
ordered array is less useful.
 STEM-AND-LEAF PLOT

 A quick and simple way to see distribution details in a data

set.
 Each number is separated into a stem and a
leaf.
 It gives us a quick picture of the shape by including the actual
numerical values in the graph. It is not used for large data
 Original data values are not altered. 26

Data: 21, 25, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 36, 36, 45
2 1 5 5 6 7 8
3 0 6 6
4 5
TABULATING NUMERICAL DATA

• What is a frequency distribution?

A frequency distribution is a summary table in which data
are arranged into numerically ordered classes or
intervals.
The number of observations in each ordered class or
interval becomes the corresponding frequency of that
class or interval.
CLASS INTERVALS AND CLASS
BOUNDARIES
CONSTRUCTING A FREQUENCY
DISTRIBUTION

Find the class limits.

 Use the minimum data entry as the lower limit of the first
class.
 Find the remaining lower limits (add the class width to the
lower limit of the preceding class).
 Find the upper limit of the first class. Remember that
classes cannot overlap.
 Find the remaining upper class limits.
CONSTRUCTING A FREQUENCY
DISTRIBUTION

The following sample data set lists the prices (in dollars)
of 30 portable global positioning system (GPS)
navigators. Construct a frequency distribution that has 7
classes.
90 130 400 200 350 70 325 250 150 250
275 270 150 130 59 200 160 450 300 130
220 100 200 400 200 250 95 180 170 150
DETERMINING THE RELATIVE
FREQUENCY
DETERMINING THE CUMULATIVE
FREQUENCY
DETERMINING THE MIDPOINT
EXPANDED FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION
GRAPHS OF FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS

Histogram
 A graph of the data in a frequency distribution
is called a histogram.
 The class boundaries ( or class midpoints)
are shown on the horizontal axis.
 The vertical scale measures either frequency,
relative frequency or percentage frequency.
 Consecutive bars must touch.
SHAPES OF HISTOGRAMS

 Symmetry - A histogram is said

to be symmetric if, when we
draw a vertical line down the
center of the histogram, the two
sides are identical in shape
and size.

 Skewness - A skewed
histogram is one with a long tail
extending to either the right or
the left In skewed distribution,
Mean is usually farther out in
the long tail than median.
 SHAPES OF HISTOGRAMS

The Modal class is determined by the number of peaks in

the histogram.
COMPARING HISTOGRAMS

• The following two histograms are grades obtained by

students in two different courses.
 OGIVE

• Ogive is a graph of a cumulative relative

frequency distribution.
 The upper boundaries are marked on the
horizontal axis.

Cumulativ e
frequency
 The cumulative relative frequencies are
marked on the vertical axis.
Data values
 The plotted points are connected by
straight lines to complete the ogive. It is a
graph of cf and upper class boundaries
OGIVE
 OGIVE

One can also plot an ogive in the following way:

VISUALIZING TWO NUMERICAL
VARIABLES: THE TIME SERIES PLOT

A Time-Series Plot is used to study patterns in the values

of a numeric variable over time.
Examples:
• Monthly price of petrol from 1970-1980 in UAE.
• UAE-United States exchange rate for every day in the
year 2016.
• Yearly, household consumption of energy in the USA,
from1945-2005.
DESCRIBING TIME-LINE CHART

• Line Chart is often used to graphically plot time series

data.
• It is created by plotting the time periods on the
horizontal axis and the variable on the vertical axis.
• Monthly gasoline prices