WRITTEN REPORT

Histogram
Overview
 What is a Histogram?
 Where did the Histogram come from?
 What are some possible uses for a Histogram?
 Benefits of a Histogram
 Pros of a Histogram
 Cons of a Histogram
 Parts of a Histogram
 Typhical Histogram shapes and what they mean
Introduction
An important aspect of total quality is the identification and control of all the sources of
variation so that processes produce essentially the same result again and again. A
histogram is a tool that allows you to understand at a glance the variation that exists in a
process.
The word histogram comes from the Greek histos, meaning pole or mast, and gram,
which means chart or graph.
Hence, the direct definition of “histogram” is “pole chart.” Perhaps this word was chosen
because a histogram looks like several poles standing side-by-side.
What is a Histogram?
 is a visual tool for presenting variable data. It organises data to describe the
process performance.

 A histogram is a graph. A graph that shows frequency of anything. Usually

histogram have bars that represent frequency of occurring of data in the whole
data set.
A Histogram has two axis the x axis and the y axis.

The x axis contains event whose frequency you have to count.

The y axis contains frequency.

The different heights of bar shows different frequency of occurrence of data.

 is used to summarize discrete or continuous data. In other words, it provides a
visual interpretation. This requires focusing on the main points, facts of numerical
data by showing the number of data points that fall within a specified range of
values (called “bins”). It is similar to a vertical bar graph.

 are one of the most frequently used methods for charting historical data.
Histograms are similar to bar charts but there are two main differences:
There are no gaps between the bars in a histogram The area of each bar is
proportional to the frequency that it represents. Hence, total area is proportional to
the total frequency.
 It is a representation of a frequency distribution by means of rectangles whose
widths represent class intervals and whose areas are proportional to the
corresponding frequencies.

Where did the Histogram Come From?

 The Histogram was first implemented by Kaoru Isikawa, one of Japans’ most
renowned experts on quality improvement.

•Isikawa spent his life trying to improve quality in Japan.

•His major contributions to quality improvement are known as the basic seven
tools of quality.

•Included in his basic seven tools of quality is the Histogram.

When Are Histograms Used?

 Summarize large data sets graphically

 Compare measurements to specifications

 Communicate information to the team

 Assist in decision making

Use a histogram when:

The data are numerical

 You want to see the shape of the data’s distribution, especially when determining
whether the output of a process is distributed approximately normally
Analyzing whether a process can meet the customer’s requirements
Analyzing what the output from a supplier’s process looks like
Seeing whether a process change has occurred from one time period to another
Determining whether the outputs of two or more processes are different
You wish to communicate the distribution of data quickly and easily to others

The main advantages of a histogram are its simplicity and versatility. It can be
used in many different situations to offer an insightful look at frequency
distribution. For example, it can be used in sales and marketing to develop the
most effective pricing plans and marketing campaigns.

Benefits of a Histogram

Over time, histograms can show what the normal distribution is for a process that
is running smoothly. However, by routinely producing histograms, any variation is
quickly detected. This is a major advantage for organizations because it supports
finding and dealing with process variation quickly.

Pros of a Histogram
 Histograms help in displaying a large amount of data graphically, that is difficult
to be put into tabular form.

 It makes it easier to display data that are of various types and frequencies.

 It is useful for the visualization of the distribution of data.

 With the use of a histogram, the median, distribution, and variations in data can
be found out.

 Histogram tells us about the skewness of data plotted.

 These charts also help in predicting the future performance of the process

 It makes it simpler to calculate the capability of a process.

 Histograms are very consistent, as the intervals are equally distributed,

 Data tables can be easily converted to histograms.

 Histograms are helpful in calculating the standard deviation of data.

 The range of the chart can be found using this plot.

 Histograms are among the charts that are, reader-friendly. It is easy to read and
understand.

 Histograms are often plotted in order for assistance in decision making.

- Histograms allow viewers to easily compare data, and in addition, they work
well with large ranges of information. They are also provide a more concrete
from of consistency, as the intervals are always equal, a factor that allows
easy data transfer from frequency tables to histograms.

Cons of a Histogram
 Only continuous data can be used while plotting a histogram.

 This form of chart is not very suitable for comparing two types of data.

 The exact value of data is not used for plotting, as data is always grouped or
categorized.

 Unless plotted in a frequency distribution, the exact input of a histogram cannot

be extracted from the graph.

 Histograms are charts that can be easily manipulated to support the desired
result.

 Sometimes, the time difference in data is neglected while plotting a histogram.

 They are very inconvenient when comparing many different categories of data
together.
Parts of a Histogram
1. The title: The title describes the information included in the histogram.
2. X-axis: The X-axis are intervals that show the scale of values which the
measurements fall under.
3. Y-axis: The Y-axis shows the number of times that the values occurred within
the intervals set by the X-axis.
4. The bars: The height of the bar shows the number of times that the values
occurred within the interval, while the width of the bar shows the interval that is
covered. For a histogram with equal bins, the width should be the same across
all bars.
5. Legend: The legend provides additional information that documents where the
data came from and how the measurements were gathered

Typical Histogram Shapes and What They Mean

Normal Distribution
A common pattern is the bell-shaped curve known as the "normal distribution." In
a normal or "typical" distribution, points are as likely to occur on one side of the
average as on the other. Note that other distributions look similar to the normal
distribution. Statistical calculations must be used to prove a normal distribution.

It's important to note that "normal" refers to the typical distribution for a particular
process. For example, many processes have a natural limit on one side and will
produce skewed distributions. This is normal—meaning typical—for those
processes, even if the distribution isn’t considered "normal."

Skewed Distribution
It is the histogram where very few large values are on the right and most of the
data are on the left side, such data are said to be skewed to the right. They are
also known as positively-skewed distributions.

Example: In tough exams, it’s always difficult to get great marks to say more than
90%. However many students manage to get fair marks.

Double-Peaked or Bimodal

When a histogram has two peaks, it is called a bimodal histogram. It has two
values that appear most frequently in the data set.

Example: Like many restaurants can expect a lot more customers around 2:00
pm and 7:00 PM than at any other times of the day and night. This makes the
histogram graph a bimodal since there are two separate time periods during the
whole day that correspond to two peak serving times for the restaurant.

Plateau or Multimodal Distribution

The plateau might be called a “multimodal distribution.” Several processes with
normal distributions are combined. Because there are many peaks close
together, the top of the distribution resembles a plateau. In a histogram where a
multimodal distribution is shown as a continuous probability distribution with two
or more modes. In a multimodal histogram, we get to know that the sample or
data is not homogeneous an observation or conclusion comes as overlapping
distribution.

Example: Jorge as a branch manager decided to work on the time that any
customer wait to get their work done at banks. After a survey with 10 customers,
he got the result as 5, 8, 20, 10, 3, 6, 12, 25, 9, 11(in min).

Edge Peak Distribution

The edge peak distribution looks like the normal distribution except that it has a
large peak at one tail. Usually this is caused by faulty construction of the
histogram, with data lumped together into a group labeled “greater than.”

Comb Distribution
In a comb distribution, the bars are alternately tall and short. This distribution
often results from rounded-off data and/or an incorrectly constructed histogram.
For example, temperature data rounded off to the nearest 0.2 degree would
show a comb shape if the bar width for the histogram were 0.1 degree.

Truncated or Heart-Cut Distribution

The truncated distribution looks like a normal distribution with the tails cut off.
The supplier might be producing a normal distribution of material and then relying
on inspection to separate what is within specification limits from what is out of
spec. The resulting shipments to the customer from inside the specifications are
the heart cut.

Dog Food Distribution

The dog food distribution is missing something—results near the average. If a
customer receives this kind of distribution, someone else is receiving a heart cut
and the customer is left with the “dog food,” the odds and ends left over after the
master’s meal. Even though what the customer receives is within specifications,
the product falls into two clusters: one near the upper specification limit and one
near the lower specification limit. This variation often causes problems in the
customer’s process.

Examples of Using a Histogram

Surveys can be a great tool to find out information from consumers. They can
show the interest of the people, who the target market is and the demographics
of the area. The survey was distributed mostly in downtown Ventura do to the
heavy foot traffic of the area as well as the potential location of the new
restaurant. 118 responses were collected and then analyzed in SPSS. The
following charts and analysis will show the results of the survey conducted. The
first question asked how many times a month a person eats at a restaurant. It is
important to know how often people like to eat at a sit-down restaurant because
the people that go out to eat often will be more likely to actually try a new eating
establishment. The majority of responses were 1- 3 times a month at 36% and 4-
7 times a month at 32%. Only about 2% of the responses said that they never eat
at a restaurant.

Figure 1. How often do you eat at a sit-down restaurant?

When the respondents were asked what their favorite type of food was, 29% said
Mexican food, 25% said American food, and 23% said Italian food. The type of
food people
prefer to eat will help determine the type of items that should be on a menu. The
best menu
would be traditional American food, with a section of Mexican and Italian food,
due to the
crosstab analysis.

Figure 2. Favorite Food

When asked what days of the week the respondents generally are in the
downtown area
of Ventura and what days they eat at a restaurant the majority said that they
generally are
downtown and eat at a restaurant on Fridays and Saturdays. This information
also helps
determine the amount of staff needed during certain days of the week to ensure
proper service is
provided to the customers.

Figure 3. Days of week at a restaurant.

Conclusion
The histogram provides a visual interpretation of numerical data. It is done by
showing the number of data points that fall within a specified range of values
which is known as bins. So, we see that there could be innumerable examples of
histogram from our daily life. There could be many histograms from the same set
of data with different purposes and situations. The histogram is a very useful tool
for database interpretation.
The histogram is very important as it displays a large amount of data and the
frequency of the data values. Also, the median and distribution of the data can be
determined by a histogram. Apart from this, it can show outliers or gaps in the
data, if any. Histogram charts convey information about data set faster than
tables.