CS1703(1805): Data and Information (2015/16)

Dr Timothy Cribbin, Brunel University London

Laboratory Tutorial 1-6: Presenting data

to inform
In this laboratory tutorial you will:

1. Reflect upon the information presentation requirements for three scenarios

2. Make effective, informed design choices in light of these requirements and the principles of
good table and graph design

This is a mandatory tutorial. In order to pass the coursework, you must achieve a score of 75% or
higher on the associated Blackboard quiz (Lab Quiz 1-6).

Preamble
Before attempting these two exercises, be sure to read through the slides for the two “Presenting
data to inform” lectures. These lectures provided some theory along with practical guidance that
should help you to make effective choices when deciding how to represent data in either table or
graph form.

In previous tutorials you have used a number of different graphs, namely frequency histograms,
boxplots and scatter plots. In the lecture on Graphs we looked at these along with several other
common graph types including line graphs, bar charts. You are encouraged to learn how to create
these additional graphs using SPSS. Some additional learning resources for this are sign-posted at the
end of this document.

The rest of this tutorial aims to give you some practical experience in presenting data to best effect
i.e. to satisfy a specific information need. Three quite different business information scenarios are
presented below. In each case, focus on the primary information need and determine the most
effective design choices for communicating the quantitative message. More specifically:

 Should the message be presented in the form of a table or a graph?

 If a table, which kind of relationship?

o Between a single set of quantitative values and a single set of categorical

subdivisions

o Between a single set of quantitative values and the intersection of multiple

categories

o Between a single set of quantitative values and the intersection of hierarchical

categories

o Among a single set of quantitative values associated with multiple categorical

subdivisions

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CS1703(1805): Data and Information (2015/16)
Dr Timothy Cribbin, Brunel University London

o Among multiple sets of quantitative values associated with the same categorical
subdivision

 If a graph, which kind of relationship does it need to display?

o Nominal comparison

o Time-series

o Ranking

o Part-to-whole

o Deviation

o Frequency distribution

o Correlation

 If a graph, which object or combination of objects for encoding the quantitative values
would work best?

o Points

o Lines

o Points and lines

o Bars

The first two questions test your general understanding of some key concepts underpinning good
table and graph design. These are followed by two imaginary scenarios that describe data and
associated information needs that require you to make appropriate design choices.

Q1: For each of the following relationships, select the best type of graph to use:

Nominal comparison

Line

Correlation

Scatter

Time series

Histogram

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CS1703(1805): Data and Information (2015/16)
Dr Timothy Cribbin, Brunel University London

Distribution

Bar

Q2: Which features of the table shown below are examples of poor design?

Product Group Q1 Sales Year Total Q2 Sales Q3 Sales Q4 Sales

Tables 12,000 56000 13,000 14000 17000

Chairs 600 4000 1,200 700 1500

Wardrobes 14000 41500 10000 9000 8500

Beds 19,500 55000 14500 12000 9000

Total Sales 46100 156500 39700 35700 36000

There are multiple correct answers to this question. Select from the following choices:

 Position of Year Total column [yes]

 Position of Total Sales row

 The order of Quarter columns

 Use of lines for delineation rows/columns

 Alignment of number values [yes]

 Alignment of row header labels

 Inconsistent number formatting [yes]

Scenario 1
You are a financial analyst who works for the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). You’ve spent the last
month providing a spectrum of reports to help her become familiar with the company’s financial
state. She has come to believe that expenses are excessive, so she has scheduled a series of
meetings, one with each department head, to discuss the problem and explore possible remedies.
She would like you to provide a single table or graph that presents, by department, the headcount
and expenses to date for the current quarter compared to budgeted headcount and expenses. This
will give her the basic information that she’ll need for each of the meetings. It’s up to you to provide
this in a manner that will serve her purpose most effectively.

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CS1703(1805): Data and Information (2015/16)
Dr Timothy Cribbin, Brunel University London

Q3: Would the information be better presented as a table or as a graph? For full marks, select a
valid reason for the correct choice. [Table: she needs to look up particular values and there are
two quantitative (dependent) variables, headcount and expense, so a table would be better than a
graph]

Q4: Let’s assume the correct answer was table. What kind of relationship should be displayed?
[Among multiple sets of quantitative values associated with the same categorical subdivision]

Q5: Let’s assume the correct answer was a graph, what kind of relationship should be displayed?
[ranking]

Scenario 2
You’ve been given a contract by a large manufacturing facility to analyze worker productivity data to
see whether you can identify the cause of a recent decrease in productivity. What you learn from
the new Operations Manager is that no matter how many additional people he hires, the result is
reduced productivity. When the Operations Manager was hired six months ago, the General
Manager told him that productivity had remained flat for years, and it was his job to increase it by
20% during the coming year. So far it has actually decreased by 20%. After hearing this summary
from the Operations Manager, one of the first things you decide to examine is the possible
connection between staff additions and productivity decreases. Given your years of experience as a
productivity analyst, you are not surprised to discover that increases in staff were proportionally
related to decreases in productivity. You suspect that the addition of workers without changing
anything else about the manufacturing process or facilities may have resulted in people simply
getting in each other’s way. How would you demonstrate this relationship in a table or graph?

Q6: Should the information be presented as a table or graph? For full marks, select a valid reason
for the correct choice. [Graph: you need to emphasise a pattern rather than look up specific
values]

Q7: What kind of relationship should be displayed? [correlation; distractors a mix of table and
graph relationships]

Q8: Which of the following table/graph design features might you use to help the Operations
Manager to solve his problem? [regression/best-fit line]

Summary and further work

In this tutorial you have applied the concepts and rules learned in the lectures to make informed
design choices when it comes to presenting information in tables and graphs. This builds upon the
practical experience you gained in earlier tutorials, where you learnt how to create frequency
histograms, boxplots and scatter plots. There are many other useful graph functions available in
SPSS, such as line and bar graphs. I recommend reading Chapter 7 in Pallant’s book for a practical
introduction and also to take a look at the Academic Skills section on Blackboard, which has an
excellent set of video tutorials for creating and editing Charts and Graphs. The exercises in the
Pallant chapter uses the same Sleep survey data that we have worked during the earlier tutorials.

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CS1703(1805): Data and Information (2015/16)
Dr Timothy Cribbin, Brunel University London

Further Reading
Few, S (2004) Show me the numbers. Analytics Press. Chapters 3 to 5.

Pallant, J. (2007) SPSS survival manual : a step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS for Windows
(Version 15), Chapter 7.