Le s s o n 1

Di s s e m i n a ti n g
m a ti o n F ro m
Infor
Su r v e y s

Jomar A. Palada
What do you do with the data or information
you have collected after conducting your
survey?

Information or data gathered from surveys

should be properly organized before it could
be disseminated.
According to Cambridge International Organization,
data can be organized in several ways. Which
method is chosen depends largely on the type of data
being collected. A simple way of recording the results
is by constructing a tally and frequency table.
 For example, a survey is carried out to test the
manufacturer’s claim that there are ‘about 36
chocolate buttons in each packet.’ The number of
buttons in each of 25 packets is counted, giving the
figures below.

35 36 34 37 36 36 38 37 36 35 38 34 35
36 36 34 37 38 37 36 35 36 36 37 36
 Displayed as a list, the numbers are not
clear, however, they are easier to analyze if
they are recorded in a tally and frequency
chart like this.

Numbe Tall Frequenc

r y y
The tally column is filled in as
34 3 the survey is being carried out.
III
The frequency column is
35 4 completed by counting up the
tally marks at the end of the
36 IIII 10 survey.

37 IIII IIII 5

38 IIII 3
 Sometimes if there is a big range in the data, it is more
useful to group the data in a grouped frequency table. The
groups are chosen so that no data item can appear in two
groups.
For example, the ages of 30 residents in a Home for the Aged are
shown below:

98 71 76 77 72 78 77 73 76 86
75 79 81 105 100 74 82 88 91 96
85 90 97 102 83 101 83 84 80 95
constructing a tally and frequency table with a list of individual ages will
not be very useful as most ages in the range will only have one or two
results.
Grouping the data into the age ranges 71-80, 81-90, etc. produces this
more useful table.
Age FREQUENC
Tally Y
71 -
180 IIII IIII II
12

IIII IIII
81 - 90 9

IIII I
91 - 6
100
III
3
100 -
110
The ages could have been grouped 71-75, 76-80, 81-85, etc. The
group size is the decision of the person collecting the data, but it is
important that the groups are all thesame size and do not overlap.
 DISPLAYING DATA
Once the data has been collected, it can be displayed in several ways. Which method is
chosen depends on the type of data collected and the audience it is intended for. One
of the simplest and most effective is to use a pictogram.

This method uses pictures to represent the frequency. The chocolate button data can
be displayed on a pictogram like this, using one circle to represent one chocolate
button.
Number of chocolate Frequenc
buttons y

34

Sometimes one symbol represents more

35 than one item. In the pictogram below,
each circle represents four chocolates
36 and fractions of a circle represents
smaller amounts.

37

38
 Number of chocolate
buttons
Frequenc
y
key
34
= 4 chocolate
35

36
Look at the key to see what each
symbol represents
37

38

Probably the most common way of displaying data is the bar graph or frequency diagram.
It is quick and easy to draw, and straightforward to understand..
 Subject Frequenc
y

Worked example Sport

40

Scienc
20

e
30
A school of 120 students carry out a survey to
Maths
see which subjects are most popular. Their 15
results are shown in the frequency table. Art

15
Langua

120
ges
Show this information on a frequency
diagram

The graph is
fully
labeled.

The bars are all the

same width and do
not touch. The height
of each bar
represents the
frequency.
Frequency diagrams can also be used to display grouped data,
such as the ages of the residents in the care home.

As before, the bars are

all the same width
and do not touch
 An alternative to a frequency diagram is a bar-line graph. Instead of bars, lines are
drawn tore present the frequencies. The height of each line indicates the frequency.

The data about students’

favorite subjects can be
shown on a bar-line graph
like this.

In frequency diagrams and bar line graphs, each frequency is represented by the height of a bar or line.
Another way of displaying data is on a pie chart. On these, each frequency is represented by a
fraction of a circle.
 In frequency diagrams and bar line graphs, each frequency is represented by
the height of a bar or line. Another way of displaying data is on a pie chart. On these,
each frequency is represented by a fraction of a circle. Worked example
Look again at the data about students’ favorite subjects. Show this information on a pie
chart.
First you need to express the frequency of each subject as a fraction of the
total number of students.

Sports is 40 = 1 of the
total, 120 3
Science is 20 = 1 ,
120 6
Math is 30 = 1 of the
total 120 4
And Art and Languages are 15= 1 each.
120 8
 To draw the pie chart without a protractor, an understanding of fractions helps. For example, Sport and Science
together represent half of the total, and Math, Art and Languages represent the other half of the total. Science together
represents half of the total, and Math, Art and Languages represent the other half of the total.

The pie chart has a

heading and a key, and
each slice is clearly
labeled.

The pie chart is divided into

slices, which are fractions of
the circle. The size of each slice
represents the frequency, as a
fraction of the total number of
students.
Activity 1.1
1. Twelve people were asked which sandwiches they had
bought from a sandwich shop.
Their answers were:

Chicken Tuna Egg Chicken

Egg Tomato Chicken Tuna
Tomato Egg Chicken Chicken

Show this information in a pictogram

 2. A fitness club carries out a survey to find out the ages of its
members.

Here are the results.

22 18 23 17 44 42 50 19 21 23 11 16 38 55 62 41
17 19 23 36 28 42 35 33 18 22 63 48 9 7 17 23 36 48
54 60

A.Make a grouped tally and frequency table using the age groups 1-10, 11-20,
21-30, etc.
B.B. Draw a frequency diagram of the data.
3. Ninety students took an English Proficiency exam. On the way out of the
hall, they were asked whether they found it hard, OK or easy.

Here are the results.

RESREPONSE EASY OKAY HARD

Frequency 15 45 30

Show in the pie chart result.

Thank
you!