There is a wide variety of graphical figures that can be used to describe sets of data in a pictorial way. Graphs and charts display frequencies and percentages and comparisons between groups. The wonderful thing about graphs and charts is that they can convey relatively complex information in a way that is simple and fast to understand. Graphical representations of information can be understood by a large audience, even those without extensive education or scientific training. This is extremely useful for publication of data in newspapers, commercials, and other avenues that are intended for a diverse audience. They allow people to visualize information. For example, it is more difficult to conceptualize numbers and percentages by themselves than it is to visualize a picture.
There is a wide variety of graphical figures that can be used to describe sets of data in a pictorial way. Graphs and charts display frequencies and percentages and comparisons between groups. The wonderful thing about graphs and charts is that they can convey relatively complex information in a way that is simple and fast to understand. Graphical representations of information can be understood by a large audience, even those without extensive education or scientific training. This is extremely useful for publication of data in newspapers, commercials, and other avenues that are intended for a diverse audience. They allow people to visualize information. For example, it is more difficult to conceptualize numbers and percentages by themselves than it is to visualize a picture. Figures such as bar graphs, histograms, pie charts, and line graphs, among others are scientific tools that can convey, for example, information about a population. Comparisons of the way two or more groups change over time according to a third factor can be represented by a bar graph. For example, the number of diabetes cases for women and men can be displayed over many different years to see how the two groups change relative to the other. The gross domestic product (GDP) of all the countries belonging to the European Union can be plotted by year using a line graph. This allows the reader to observe the changes in the GDP of individual countries over time as well as the way the changes in the countries relate to each other. The demographic makeup of a population can be demonstrated by a pie chart with the different demographic groups represented by different "slices" of the pie. Census data is often displayed this way, as is health data of a population. A data set with the numbers and percentages of, for example, the age groups in a population, can be turned into a pie chart by using the pie chart maker function that is standard in the majority of statistical programs. This function is usually simple to use. There is also a variety of pie chart maker programs on the internet in which the user simply puts in the numbers they want to compare and a pie chart is created. The same types of programs exist for bar charts, line graphs, histograms, and almost any type of graphical representation. With any graphical representation it is important that the labels are clear and concise. This is something the user must think about when creating the chart or graph. A pie chart maker, bar graph maker, or other graphing tool is an important statistical aid, but the human factor cannot be overlooked. For example, the data must be checked to be sure it is accurate. Sometimes a typo in a number can be detected when the resulting graph turns out quite different than expected. For this reason, when a person is creating graphs or charts, it is important to double check results against common sense. The choice of colors is also important so that categories that are next to each other don't have a similar color, but instead present a color contrast. This part is usually taken care of by the computer program.
Figures such as bar graphs, histograms, pie charts, and line graphs, among others are scientific tools that can convey, for example, information about a population. Comparisons of the way two or more groups change over time according to a third factor can be represented by a bar graph. For example, the number of diabetes cases for women and men can be displayed over many different years to see how the two groups change relative to the other. The gross domestic product (GDP) of all the countries belonging to the European Union can be plotted by year using a line graph. This allows the reader to observe the changes in the GDP of individual countries over time as well as the way the changes in the countries relate to each other.
The demographic makeup of a population can be demonstrated by a pie chart with the different demographic groups represented by different "slices" of the pie. Census data is often displayed this way, as is health data of a population. A data set with the numbers and percentages of, for example, the age groups in a population, can be turned into a pie chart by using the pie chart maker function that is standard in the majority of statistical programs. This function is usually simple to use. There is also a variety of pie chart maker programs on the internet in which the user simply puts in the numbers they want to compare and a pie chart is created. The same types of programs exist for bar charts, line graphs, histograms, and almost any type of graphical representation.
With any graphical representation it is important that the labels are clear and concise. This is something the user must think about when creating the chart or graph. A pie chart maker, bar graph maker, or other graphing tool is an important statistical aid, but the human factor cannot be overlooked. For example, the data must be checked to be sure it is accurate. Sometimes a typo in a number can be detected when the resulting graph turns out quite different than expected. For this reason, when a person is creating graphs or charts, it is important to double check results against common sense. The choice of colors is also important so that categories that are next to each other don't have a similar color, but instead present a color contrast. This part is usually taken care of by the computer program.