Guide to Creating Charts (Survivorship Curves and Life Expectancies)

using Microsoft Excel

Survivorship Curve
1. Type in Heading Titles for Age Group, lx female, Ix male, Female and Male under
Columns A-E respectively.
2. Insert data on age group and survivorship (Ix) values for female and male individuals
under corresponding columns mentioned above.
3. Under columns, D and E, compute and convert the survivorship values to create a new
scale for the chart. Do this by using this formula: LOG10(1000*lx).
Example: lx value = 0.76
Computation: =LOG10(1000*0.76) equals 2.88
4. After obtaining converted values, graph creation follows.
5. Highlight heading (title) and values of Female (column D) and Male (column E)
survivorship values. Click “Insert” in Menu bar. Select 2D line graph. The line graph will
appear showing Survivorship curves both for female and male. Click and move the
legend for Female and Male values at the top right corner of the chart to provide space
for the x-axis title (Age group).
6. To edit and insert values for age group, right click on the created chart, and click “Select
Data”. A pop-up menu will appear. Click the box beside “Horizontal (Category) axis
labels”. After clicking, highlight the values under Age Group. These data will be
automatically entered in the box. Click “OK” in the pop-up menu. The values for Age
Group will now be reflected in the chart.
7. Change the title to Survivorship Curve by clicking the “Chart Title” in the chart.
8. Insert titles both for the x and y axes. Click on the chart and select “Chart Design” in the
Menu Bar. Select “Add Chart Element” and a drop-down menu will appear. Select Axis
Titles. For y-axis, click “Primary Vertical”. A text box will appear in the chart. Change the
y-axis title to “Survivorship (lx)”. Repeat this step for the x-axis title (Primary Horizontal)
and change it to “Age Group”.

Life Expectancies
1. Type in Heading Titles for Age Group, Female and Male under Columns A-C respectively.
2. Insert data on age group and life expectancy (e x) values for female and male individuals
under corresponding columns mentioned above.
3. Highlight heading (title) and values of Female (column B) and Male (column C) life
expectancy values. Click “Insert” in Menu bar. Select 2D line graph. The line graph will
appear showing Life Expectancy curves both for female and male individuals. Click and
move the legend for Female and Male values at the top right corner of the chart to
provide space for the x-axis title (Age group).
4. Do step 6 under Survivorship Curve.
5. Change the title to Life Expectancy by clicking the “Chart Title” in the chart.
6. Follow step 8 for axes title. Change the y-axis title to “Life Expectancy (e x)” and “Age
Group” for x-axis.