Data Presentation

Question 1

Overview of seminar

Answer 1

• What makes a good graph?
• Main principles
• Different types of graphs
• Histograms, box plots, line charts, scatterplots
• How to plot them in SPSS

Question 2

What makes a good graph

Answer 2

• Show the data
• Help the reader to focus and think about the data presented (avoid adding
  distracting components to your graph)
• Present any numbers with minimum ink
• Make large data set coherent
• Reveal the underlying message of the data
  Tufte (2001)

Question 3

How to know when you use the following graphs for data:
-histograms
-box plots
-scattergraphs
-line graphs

Answer 3

Histogram
Purpose: Show distribution
Data focus: Single quantitative variable
More for experiments

Box plot
Purpose: Summarize distribution and variability
Data focus: Single quantitative variable (groups optional)
More for experiments

Line Graph
Purpose: Show trends over time
Data focus: Quantitative variable over time
To examine a relationship

Scatterplot
Purpose: Examine relationships
Data focus: Two quantitative variables
To examine a relationship

Question 4

How to know when to use a histogram over box plot

Answer 4

Historgram if you want to see distribution - this is clearly visible

Box plot if you want to summarise mean, median aetc and see standard deviation

Question 5

How to know when to use line graph or scatterplot

Answer 5

Scatterplot if looking for a relationship. Easier to see anomalies.

Line graph more for looking at trends over time. Typically has a time or ordered variable.