1. KNOWING WHICH TYPE OF GRAPH TO USE IN RESEARCH A foolproof guide to selecting the right image to convey your important message!

2. Overview of the Problem: A graph tells a story… Scatter Plots Histograms and Bar Graphs Line Graphs Box-and-Whisker Plots Networks Normality Plots Residual Plots Pie Graphs Stem-and-Leaf Plots Map Charts Radar Charts

3. AN EXAMPLE: Categorical comparisons Quick understanding of relative frequency Distribution testing Group comparisons <-- Example graph WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Histograms and Bar Charts How many of something do I have relative to something else?

4. AN EXAMPLE: Temporal studies <-- Example graph Relational studies with single quantity observations WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Line Graphs How does a trend change over the course of some other continuous phenomenon?

5. AN EXAMPLE: Monitoring relationships between multiple measurands in an effort to relate them Clustering <-- Example graph WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Scatter Plots Pairing off multiple phenomena…

6. AN EXAMPLE: Finding percentile spreads Identifying outliers WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Box-and-Whisker Plot Percentile trends and outlying observations

7. AN EXAMPLE: Identifying connections between concepts <-- Example graph Flow charts Algorithms Path identification WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Networks What is related to what?

8. AN EXAMPLE: Distribution of a population Percentages WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Pie graph Proportionality of a population

9. AN EXAMPLE: Finding a median or mode Broader distributions WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Stem-and-Leaf Plots Tiered distribution

10. AN EXAMPLE: Multiple comparisons over shared properties WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Radar Charts When you care about too many things…

11. AN EXAMPLE: Similarities/differences based on administrative units Regional concerns WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Map Charts Where place matters…

12. AN EXAMPLE: Determining the voracity of a model based on distribution of residual values (randomized) WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Residual Plot Do I have the right model type?

13. AN EXAMPLE: Does experimental data conform to the normal distribution Note: you can do this for any distribution, but most common for normal distribution WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR? Normality Plots Do I have normal data?