How to build graphs, charts and plots

For Categorical data If the data is nominal, then: Few values: Pie Chart Many Values: Pareto Chart (order of bars determined by frequency) If the data is ordinal, then: Bar Graph (order of bars determined by order of the ranking variable)

For Numerical Data Value classes are contiguous intervals that cover all possible data values Frequency counts can be made one class at a time (non-cumulative), or one more class every row (cumulative). Frequency counts can also be absolute or relative

Graphs for numerical data GraphHorizontal Axis Vertical Axis Histogram Bar Graph Class Midpoints Non-cumulative Frequency F or % Polygon Line Chart Class Midpoints Non-cumulative Frequency F or % Ogive Line Chart Upper Class Limits Cumulative Frequency F or %

Other graphs for numerical data Time Series plot Excel’s Insert|Graph Tab Stem-Leaf plot Excel’s data analysis tools

Other graphs for numerical data Run Chart Box-Whisker plot (excel add ins)