CHARTS AND GRAPHS

 

"A picture is worth a thousand words."

 

The advantages of charts are

 

Ø      IMPACT                     Colours, symbols and patterns can draw attention to main points.

 

Ø      SPEED                      Trends can be seen immediately.

 

Ø      SIMPLICITY               Pictures are easy to understand when compared with rows and columns of boring figures.

 

The disadvantages are

 

Ø      BIAS                           Not all relevant details may be shown and some data can be left out. This is called manipulation and unfair emphasis.

 

Ø      POOR FORMAT SELECTION

                                                                        If you choose the wrong chart it can confuse and lose the point you are trying to make.

 

 

The type of data will usually dictate the choice of chart.

 

Continuous data is data that is collected repeatedly eg temperature taken every hour.

 

Discrete data is data that is taken at one instant (in time or place) eg counting blondes, brunettes and redheads in a group of people.