BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

Session 2

Organization and Presentation of Data

Contents
Introduction, p9
2.1 Presentation of categorical data, p10
2.2 Frequency distribution table, p10
2.3 Bar diagram, p11
2.4 Pie diagram, p12
2.5 Presentation of numerical data, p12
2.6 Frequency distribution Table, p12
2.7 Histogram, p15
2.8 Frequency polygon, p15
2.9 Ogive, p16
Summary p17
Learning Outcomes, p17

Introduction

In health sciences, researches collect data on numerous variables. For

example, a public health nurse may collect data on variables such as age,
BMI, blood pressure and blood sugar of pregnant mothers registered in an
MOH area. In order to understand the behavior of any data set that we have
collected, first we need to organize and present such data in a summary
form. Presentation of data in a proper summary form would facilitate the
researcher to identify further analytical methods and to make correct
decisions in health care practice.

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BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

2.1 Presentation of categorical data

Categorical data can be presented using tables and diagrams. Pie charts and
Bar charts are the common methods used for graphical presentation of
categorical data. For example, suppose a nurse has recorded the admissions
of patients in a central dispensary by the disease category, over a period of
one week. Suppose there were 23 patients with asthma (15 males and 8
females), 42 with hypertension (20 males and 22 females), 12 with stroke (6
males and 6 females), 25 with diabetes (15 males and 10 females), and 6
with diarrhea (2 males and 4 females) admitted during the study period. This
data can be presented using a frequency table as illustrated below.

2.2 Frequency distribution table

Frequency table gives the frequency of occurrence of each value of the
variable.
We can tabulate the data given above using a frequency distribution table as
follows.

Table 2.1: Patient admissions by gender and disease category in the given
week

Disease Male Female

Number Percentage Number Percentage
Asthma 15 25.9 8 16
Hypertension 20 34.5 22 44
Stroke 6 10.3 6 12
Diabetes 15 25.9 10 20
Diarrhea 2 3.4 4 8
Total 58 100 50 100

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BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

2.3 Bar diagram

Bar graphs are also used to present the data of categorical variables.
Basically there are two types of bar graphs, vertical and horizontal.
Categories (different values) of the variable are represented by bars and the
height of each bar denotes the frequency of occurrence of that value. There
is a gap between bars. Usually, the bars are equal in width. A horizontal bar
chart for the data on patient admissions is given below.

Figure 2.1: Number of admissions according to diagnosis

Note: If you want to display the admissions for each disease category by
gender (males and females separately) you can do so by drawing a multiple
bar chart. A vertical multiple bar chart for the above data is given below.

Figure 2.2: Number of admissions by gender and disease category

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BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

2.4 Pie diagram

A pie chart is a circular graph which is used to present data of a categorical
variable.
The graph resembles a pie that has been cut into different slices. The area of
a particular slice is proportional to the percentage of responses in the
corresponding category. Pie chart is an effective way of presenting data
when the variable of interest has a small number of categories. For example,
suppose there were 104 inpatients in the medical wards of a district hospital:
41 cases of fever, 35 cases of asthma, 18 cases of hypertension and 10 cases
of diabetes. Data can be presented using a pie chart as follows.

Figure 2.3: Number of patients in medical wards according to the type of

disease

2.5 Presentation of numerical data

Numerical (quantitative) data can be presented using tables and diagrams.
Histograms and frequency polygons are the common graphical methods
used to display numerical data sets.

2.6 Frequency distribution table

A frequency distribution table can be used to display numerical data. In
constructing a frequency table we need to form a set of categories to classify
the data. When forming a frequency distribution table we first determine a
set of class intervals, and then tally the number of observations called

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 BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

frequency and then calculate relative frequencies and cumulative

frequencies.

Class intervals – Considering the minimum and the maximum values

recorded in the variable, the data set is broken into intervals of equal length
that are non-overlapping. These are called class intervals, and their end
points are called class limits.

Frequencies – Number of observations that belong to the each class interval

is called the frequency or count of that class.

Relative frequencies – The relative frequency of each class interval is

calculated by dividing the frequency in the class by the total number of
observations and multiplying it by 100. The total of all the relative
frequencies becomes 100.

Cumulative frequencies- A cumulative frequency of each class is obtained

by summing the relative frequencies of all classes up to and including the
value of the class of interest.

Suppose we have measured the Fasting Blood Sugar levels (mg/dL) of 30

people. The values are given below.

80, 103,108, 100, 78, 90, 110, 83, 120, 126, 98, 100, 132, 92, 110, 115,
88,120, 106, 142, 85,150, 104, 122, 95,140,126, 137, 135, 112

Taking the width of the class interval as 10, we can form a frequency
distribution table as follows.

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BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

Table 2.2: Fasting blood sugar levels of a sample of 30 people

Relative Relative
Class Cumulative
Frequency Frequency Cumulative
Intervals Frequency
(%) Frequency (%)

71-80 2 6.7% 2 6.7%

81-90 4 13.3% 6 20.0%

91-100 5 16.7% 11 36.7%

101-110 6 20.0% 17 56.7%

111-120 4 13.3% 21 70.0%

121-130 3 10.0% 24 80.0%

131-140 4 13.3% 28 93.3%

141-150 2 6.7% 30 100.0%

Activity 2.1

1. Construct a frequency table for the following observations

22, 24, 35, 25, 45, 50, 52, 42, 63, 22, 35, 36, 46, 50, 50.
a) Arrange above observations in ascending order.
b) Construct class intervals
c) Find the relative frequency and cumulative frequency
d) Find the mean and the mode

2. The body weights (kg) of 20 pregnant mothers attending to an antenatal clinic were
reported as follows.
55, 60, 62, 65, 70, 85, 60, 70, 56, 63, 65, 60, 60, 59, 72, 80, 62, 70, 82, 62
a) Arrange the above observations in ascending order.
b) Construct class intervals
c) Find the cumulative frequency
d) Construct histogram
e) Construct frequency polygon.
f) Find the mean and mode.

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BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

2.7 Histogram
A histogram is a graphical display used to show the shape of the distribution
of variables. The X- axis of the histogram represents the class intervals and
Y- axis of the histogram represents the frequency of observations.

Figure 2.4: Fasting Blood Sugar Levels of people (n=30)

Figure 2.5: Frequency polygon of the distribution of Fasting Blood

Sugar levels of people (n = 30)

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BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

2.8 Frequency Polygon

Frequency polygons are graphical representations used to provide shapes of
distributions. It also serves the same purposes as histograms, but it is
specifically helpful for comparing data sets. Frequency polygon is
constructed by using midpoints of the class intervals as x- axis and the
height of the relative frequency as the y-axis. To create a frequency
polygon, start just as for histogram by using class intervals and their
frequencies. Place a point in the middle of each class interval at the height
corresponding to its frequency. Finally, connect the points. You should
include one class interval below the lowest value in your data and one class
interval above the highest value. The graph will then touch the X-axis on
both sides.

2.9 Ogive
The line graph of the cumulative frequency is called the ogive, and the ogive
of the above data on fasting blood sugar is given below. The ogive is useful
to identify the total number of subjects who have scored below or above
some value of the variable studied, or to identify the total number of
subjects who are fallen within two values. For example, in the above data
set 24 people have FBS less than 130 mg/dL, and 11 people (28-17 = 11)
have FBS between 110 – 130 mg/dL.

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BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

Number of people

Fasting Blood Sugar (mg/dL)

Figure 2.6: Cumulative frequency polygon (Ogive) of FBS of the people
(n=30)

Activity 2.2

Construct a Bar chart for the following recorded blood groups of 20 people.
(O ,O , O , A , B , A , AB , O , AB , O , A , A , A , O , A , B , B , AB , A , A )

Summary
Statistical data can be represented using frequency tables, bar charts, pi
charts, histograms, frequency polygon and ogive.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson you should be able to,

• Describe various graphical data presentation methods

• Tabulate a given set of data using an appropriate method

• Display a given set of data using an appropriate diagrammatic

method.

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BSU5335 – Unit I Session 02: Organization and Presentation of Data

Review Questions

1. Frequency distribution tables,

a. Convert raw data into a summary from.
b. Can be prepared using qualitative data.
c. Describe the pattern of variation of a data set.
d. Make data concise without losing details.
e. Are helpful in further data.

2. Match the phrases given on the Left (A) with the most relevant words/ statements
given on the Right (B)
A B
a. The average value of the lower and upper limit Ogive

b. Graph that uses the division of a circle into Mid point

different sectors

c. Cumulative Frequency Curve is also called Pie Chart

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