Introduction to Statistical Analysis
Read this overview of statistical analysis. While it can be a form of analysis used by intelligence analysts, what differentiates us is the types of data we often find ourselves using. Sometimes it is detailed internal data already neatly cleaned and standardized, but more often, it is qualitative data that we have to normalize ourselves. This is the
5. Spreadsheet Exercises: Graphs of Histograms and Frequency Tables
5.1 Graphs and Charts
The table below includes FSM census 2000 data and student seat numbers for the national site of COM-FSM circa 2004.
| State | Population (2000) | Fractional share of national population (relative frequency) | Number of student seats held by state at the national campus | Fractional share of the national campus student seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuuk | 53595 | 0.5 | 679 | 0.2 |
| Kosrae | 7686 | 0.07 | 316 | 0.09 |
| Pohnpei | 34486 | 0.32 | 2122 | 0.62 |
| Yap | 11241 | 0.11 | 287 | 0.08 |
| 107008 | 1 | 3404 | 1 |
Circle or pie charts
In a circle chart the whole circle is 100% Used when data adds to a whole, e.g. state populations add to yield national population.
A pie chart of the state populations:
The following table includes data from the 2010 FSM census as an update to the above data.
| State | Population (2010) | Relative frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Chuuk | 48651 | |
| Kosrae | 6616 | |
| Pohnpei | 35981 | |
| Yap | 11376 | |
| Sum: | 102624 | |
Column charts
Column charts are also called bar graphs. A column chart of the student seats held by each state at the national site:
Pareto chart
If a column chart is sorted so that the columns are in descending order, then it is called a Pareto chart. Descending order means the largest value is on the left and the values decrease as one moves to the right. Pareto charts are useful ways to convey rank order as well as numerical data.
Line graph
A line graph is a chart which plots data as a line. The horizontal axis is usually set up with equal intervals. Line graphs are not used in this course and should not be confused with xy scattergraphs.
XY Scatter graph
When you have two sets of continuous data (value versus value, no categories), use an xy graph. These will be covered in more detail in the chapter on linear regressions.
Source: Dana Lee Ling; http://www.comfsm.fm/~dleeling/statistics/text5.html