Graphical Presentation

Meaning:

 The graphic presentation of data and information offers a quick and simple way of understanding the
features and drawing comparisons.
 It is an effective analytical tool, and a graph can help us in finding the mode, median, etc.

Advantages of Graphical Presentation:

 Attractive and Impressive: Graphs are always more attractive and impressive than tables or figures.
 Simple and understandable presentation of data: Graphs help to present complex data in a simple and
understandable way. It saves the time and energy of the statistician as well as the observer.
 Useful in comparison: Graphs provide easy comparison of two or more phenomena.
 Location of positional averages: Graphs provide a method of locating certain positional averages like
medium, mode, quartile.
 There is no need for mathematical knowledge: There is not much technicality involved in understanding
the graphs as they are very simple and easily comprehensible. Even a layman, who has no mathematical
knowledge, can easily grasp it.
 Helpful in Predictions: Through graphs, tendencies that could occur in the near future can be predicted in
a better way.
 Universal utility: In the modern era, graphs can be used in all spheres such as trade, economics,
government departments, advertisements, etc.
Construction of Graphs:
 Graphs are generally drawn on a specially designed paper, known as Graph Paper.
 Graph paper has a fine network of horizontal and. vertical lines, dividing every inch or centimeter into 10
equal parts.
 How to Construct Graphs?
Step 1. In the first step, draw two simple lines, which intersect at right angles. These lines are called axis.
Step 2. The horizontal line is known as abscissa or X-axis and the vertical line as ordinate or Y-axis.
Step 3. The point at which they intersect each other is called point of origin, denoted by O represented by 0.
Step 4. By convention, the independent variable is normally measured along the X-axis and the dependent
variable on the Y-axis.
Step 5. Select an appropriate scale. Scale indicates the unit of a variable that a fixed length of axis would
represent. It may be different for both the axis, but it should be taken in such way so as to accommodate
whole data on the given graph paper in a lucid and attractive style.
 Step 6. Plot the data on the graph papers on the basis of values of X and Y variable. It is essential to have two
values: one representing variable X and the second representing variable Y, to plot a point, on a graph.
Step 7. Join the points (pair of values) on the graph paper. While joining the plotted points, it should be taken
into consideration that the line should be clear. If many lines appear on the same graph paper, different kinds
of lines should be used. Different Kinds of lines can be:
(i) Simple Line (_________)
(ii) Dotted Line (.…………….)
(iii) Broken Line (_ _ _ _ _ _)
Step 8. Assign an appropriate Title. This title should indicate the facts presented by the graph in a comprehensive
and unambiguous manner.
Step 9. Use graph number. It can be used for further reference. In the case of many graphs, the numbering should
be in sequential order.
Frequency Distribution Graphs:
Line Frequency Graph:
Such graphs are used to depict discrete series. In the construction of line frequency graph, the values of the
variables are measured on the X-axis and the corresponding frequency on the Y-axis.
Example: Prepare Line Frequency graph from the following data:

Weight (in 45 46 47 48 49 50 51
kg)

No. of 4 6 9 8 18 26 15
 Students

Solution:
Weight of students is taken on the X-axis and number of students(frequencies) on the Y-axis.

Histogram:
 Histogram is a graph of a frequency distribution in which the class-intervals are plotted on the X axis and their
respective frequencies on the Y-axis. It is a two-dimensional diagram.
 Histogram is a very popular method of presenting continuous series or class intervals frequency distributions.
A histogram is never drawn for a distance for a discrete variable.
 The height or length of each rectangle shows the frequency of the class and breadth indicates size of class-
interval. Therefore, total area covered by Histograms represents total frequencies
 Each rectangle is adjacent to the others to give a continuous picture.
Example:
The technique of constructing histogram is illustrated in the following cases:
1. Equal Class-Interval) are given.
2. Unequal Class-Interval are given
3. Mid-Points are given Inclusive
4. Class-intervals are given
Equal Class-Interval are Given: In case of equal class-intervals, the height of each rectangle is taken to be equal to
the frequency of the corresponding class. On the X-axis, each class-interval is drawn, in which width of rectangle is
equal (or proportional) to the magnitude of class-interval. On the Y-axis, we plot the frequencies.
Unequal class-intervals are given: In case of unequal class-intervals, frequencies are first adjusted before
constructing the histogram. The frequency distribution is adjusted in accordance with equal class width.