Chapter 3 - GRAPHIC TECHNIQUES

Abstract

This chapter presents graphic techniques such as diagrams, drawings, and pictographs, which can be used to present data quickly and effectively. Those graphic techniques can be used to summarize information, portray relationships, show changes over time, and present conclusions. The graphic techniques include charts, time series plots, maps, diagrams, and even cartoons. Analysts use various types of graphic methods to present data visually. The principal purpose of these methods is to summarize and simplify complex relationships. Graphic presentation methods should be selected for their simplicity, clarity, and usefulness for conveying the meaning of a set of data to the intended audience. Few of the graphic techniques discussed in the chapter include pie charts, bar charts, histograms, dot diagrams and time series diagrams. Pie charts illustrate proportions or shares of the whole. The categories of pie charts are computed as proportions of the 360º circle. Bar charts compare the differences among mutually exclusive categories of noncontinuous nominal or ordinal data. The heights of the bars depict the frequencies of the categories of the variable being studied.