3 steps to choosing the best graph for your data

Exercise 1 – Students’ food likes

Now let´s try out the 3 steps:

Exercise 2 – Jobs and their characteristics

Now let´s try out the 3 steps:

Exercise 3 – Media use

Exercise 4 – Following Social Media

Exercise 5 – How do you get to school?

Exercise 1 – Students’ food likes

Now let´s try out the 3 steps:

Exercise 2 – Jobs and their characteristics

Now let´s try out the 3 steps:

Exercise 3 – Media use

Exercise 4 – Following Social Media

Exercise 5 – How do you get to school?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for this data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively this data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for these data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively these data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for this data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively this data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for these data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively these data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for this data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively this data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for this data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively this data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for these data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively these data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for this data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively this data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for these data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively these data?

Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?

Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?

Step 3: Choose a type of graph for this data. What kind of graph would you choose to represent effectively this data?

PARTNERS AND CREDITS

In the following exercises you have to choose the most suitable graph to represent the data contained in the tables. If necessary, read up on the information about the different graphs again in the learn section. Choose the correct answer from the suggested answers provided, hit the solution button, and finally discover the correct answer and the reason for that solution.

Remember to use the 3 steps:
Step 1: Look at title, words and pictures. What does the table show?
Step 2: Look at the numbers. What do the numbers tell you?
Step 3: Choose a type of graph for this data. What kind of graph would you choose to effectively represent the data?

60 Students in a school have been interviewed about their food likes. Here below the table shows their answers:


Food	Students
A.Pizza	20
B. Spaghetti Bolognese	15
C. Sausages	6
D. Potato Salad	3
E. Baked Beans on toast	2
F. Lasagna	10
G. Roast turkey	4
Total number of students asked:	60

It shows the student´s food preferences in a school

Can you figure out the total number of students that have been asked?
Where do you find highest numbers /scores?
Where are the lowest numbers?
Answer:

You can find the total number of students that have been asked for this survey at the bottom: 60 students have been interviewed.
The highest scores you can find are for the Italian food: Pizza, Spaghetti Bolognese followed by Lasagna.
Beans on toast scores lowest, it is least liked by the students that have been asked.

bar chart
pie chart
web diagram

In this example, different graphs could be used, but as each student was allowed only 1 answer. We can know that because we asked 60 students and we got exactly 60 answers. A depiction of the different answers and the size of the fraction is the most useful. Therefore we propose a pie chart is the best solution.

If you think about your future and you think about the work you would like to do, you can read up on characteristics needed for a certain job. Thus making it easier to decide what kind of job you would like to do or you might be good at.

The table below contains the opinions collected for a survey by the employment service center.

1 = not important | 2 = needed sometimes | 3 = important | 4 = very important

It shows the jobs: electrician, nurse, teacher, chef
It shows characteristics: patience, precision, organisation, tidiness, helpfulness, team player

Each skill has been given a value between 1 and 4 where 1 means that a skill is less important and 4 means the skill is very important for this job.

Looking at the table is quite hard work and it would take some time to read it.
What kind of graph would you use to give an easier overview?

bar chart
line chart
web diagram
area diagram

A web diagram is the best solution, as it is usually used for target performance and in our example the different jobs and the importance of the different characteristics can be shown in this diagram. There are 4 different jobs and 6 different characteristics. Therefore a bar chart would be possible, but as there are so many characteristics, it would be rather confusing. As there is no time characteristic to show trends, neither a line chart nor an area diagram is a good option.

Studies often focus on differences in behaviour depending on your gender. In this study you can read about different ways that students primarily access information.
Here below the table shows the answers of students that have been asked:


Media	Students male	Students female
TV	25	32
PC	13	35
Smartphone	42	20
Tablet	12	34
Radio	40	23
Books	3	5
Newspapers	2	2
Magazines	6	14
	143	165

Comparing the media use of male and female students. 8 types of media are identified, ranging from TV, Smartphones to Newspapers.

143 male and 165 female students have been asked.
Male students in this survey prefer smartphones and radio, they hardly use books, newspapers and magazines.
Female students in this survey prefer TV, PC and Tablet, they hardly read newspapers and books.
The dislikes are very similar for both genders, with the only variance being that female students like magazines.

What kind of graph would you use to show differences effectively?

group bar chart
line chart
web diagram
pie chart

A group bar chart is the best solution, as you can differentiate between 3 characteristics. In this example media, the number of uses and the gender can all be shown and compared.

Do you use social media? What kind do you use? And for how many hours per day? In this table you can find the likes of students and average hours per day that they use it.


social media	Nombre de personnes	Moyenne du nombre d’heure/j
facebook	30	9
whatsapp	25	8
twitter	18	5
youtube	30	3
instagram	5	1
skype	9	1

It shows 6 different types of social media, the number of people that use it and how many hours per day they use it on average.

Social Media mostly used is Facebook and Youtube, followed closely by Whatsapp. Istagram is used the least.
Facebook and Whatsapp used the most hours per day, with Instagram and Skype used the least amount of hours per day.
Maximum average hours per day 9 and minimum average hours per day: 1
This survey does not give a total of numbers being asked.

What kind of graph would you use to show differences effectively?

pie chart
area digram
web diagram
bubble chart

The bubble chart is the best solution as this shows a good statistical spread where we want to compare 3 characteristics.

Students were asked what means of transportation they use to get to school.


Mode of transportation	Number of students
Train	IIIII
Bus	III
Walking	IIIII II
Bycicle	IIIII II
Blades / Skateboard	III
Tram/Tube	IIIII II
Car	IIIII
Motorcyle	III

The specific number of students that use 8 different modes of transportation.

First we have to find out the exact numbers:


Train	5
Bus	3
Walking	7
Bycicle	7
Blades / Skateboard	3

We know that most people walk, use a bycicle or go by tram or tube. Less people go by bus, motorcycle, blades or skateboard. We do not know how many people have been asked as some might use two or more means of transport to get to school, e.g. they get a lift half way by their parents and walk the rest.

What kind of graph would you use to show differences effectively?

pie chart
bar chart
web diagram
line chart

It is best to show all solutions in a bar chart 1. There is more than one answer possible but it is best not to use a pie chart.

If you like, you could try and display your data as a Bar Graph, Line Graph or Pie Chart and print it: http://www.mathsisfun.com/data/data-graph.php

Organisation

Helpfulness

Teamplayer

Electrician