GRAPHS AND CHARTS

Bar Graph

a visual representation of data which compares values in different categories

Example.

the number of people who prefer each genre of movie

Double Bar Graph

a visual representation of data which compares values in different categories and groups

Example.

the number of people, broken down by children and adults, who prefer each genre of movie

Line Graph

a visual representation of data which shows change over time or in response to a manipulated variable

Quantitative Data

data which is measured and usually expressed numerically

Example.

distance, time, temperature, test scores

Box-And-Whisker Plot / Boxplot

A boxplot splits the data set into quartiles, where the middle 50% of the data forms the box and the lower 25% and upper 25% form the whiskers. Boxplots are used with larger sets of data. You can easily identify the median, the shape or skewness of the graph, and the range on a boxplot.

Stem-and-Leaf Plot / Stemplot

a plot that splits each data value into a "leaf" (usually the last digit) and a "stem" (the other digits). Stemplots are used for smaller sets of quantitative data. You can easily identify outliers, data clusters, or gaps on a stemplot.

Categorical Data

data recorded as categories/groups

Example.

color

Dot Plot

a graph that uses dots to show the frequency counts of a group of data. Dot plots are used for small sets of quantitative data. You can easily identify the mode, the shape or skew of the graph, and potential outliers on a dot plot.

Histogram

a visual representation of data which compares frequencies of different numeral intervals

Pie Chart

a type of chart in which a circle is divided into sectors that each represent a proportion of the whole; helpful when analyzing the relative distribution of categories