DATA ANALYSIS, TOOLS AND

APPLICATION (QHO430)

Lecture 7 – Data Visualisation

What you will learn
After this session you should be able to:

Create tables that convey the information necessary for the viewer to
understand your data.
Choose graph-types that are appropriate for your data.
Produce PivotTables and their appropriate Graphs
Introduction
So, you have data….

The human brain finds it difficult to make sense of even a modest quantity of raw
data. Once the data is properly organised and presented, a surprising amount of
information can be derived from it.

But it is all too easy to misinterpret graphs or to use inappropriate graphs if

insufficient care is taken.
Overview
 Descriptive techniques are
designed to summarise data
so that important information
can be extracted easily.
 There are two types of In this presentation, we’re
descriptive techniques: introducing graphical
 Numerical summaries summaries.
 Graphical summaries
Data Visualisation – 8 Core Principles
 Good data visualisation takes the burden of effort off brain and puts it on the eyes.
 8 Core Principles that let us accomplish that are:
1. Simplify
2. Compare
3. Attend
4. Explore
5. View Diversely
6. Ask why 
7. Be sceptical
8. Respond 
Data Visualisation

Data visualization is an
interdisciplinary field that
deals with the graphic
representation of data. It is a
particularly efficient way of
communicating when the
data is numerous as for
example a time series
Presentation of Data
Tables
Pie charts In this section, we’re
going to go through a
Bar charts few ways of displaying
Histograms the raw data using
graphical presentation
Boxplots
Time Series Graphs
Scatterplots
Normal Probability Plot
Survival Plot etc.
Narrative format
“Although in 2014 much the larger part of our profits was generated by the
heavy duty ‘HailGood’ range, which contributed £700,000 to a total profit
before tax of £900,000, the policy of diversifying our retail outlets has
altered this situation. In 2015 profits from ‘HailGood’ sales had increased to
£820,000, but those from our lighter ‘RainGood’ range had gone up from
£200,000 to £460,000 over the same period. By 2016 this trend was even
more pronounced, with ‘RainGood’ sales accounting for £680,000 out of a
total profit of £1,610,000.”

WeatherGood Ltd. company report (Morris, 2016)

Presenting data in table

Table *: Before-tax profit breakdown of ‘WeatherGood’ for the past three

years:
Year HailGood RainGood Total
2014 70 (78) 20 (22) 90
2015 82 (64) 46 (36) 128
2016 93 (58) 68 (42) 161

All figures in £0,000s. Bracketed figures are per cent of year’s total.
(Source: Company annual reports)
 Presenting data in table

Table *: Before-tax profit breakdown of ‘WeatherGood’ for the past three years:
Year HailGood RainGood Total
2014 70 20 90
2015 82 46 128
2016 93 68 161

Year HailGood RainGood Total

2014 78% 22% 100%
2015 64% 36% 100%
2016 58% 42% 100%

All figures in £0,000s. Bracketed figures are per cent of year’s total.
(Source: Company annual reports)
 Presenting data in table

Figure *: Before-tax profit breakdown of ‘WeatherGood’ for the past three years:
Narrative Format: Revisited

Textual reports can help to:

interpret the information contained in tables and diagrams
emphasise the most important points
explain the background to the information that has been collected
provide ideas about further action
Table Contents and Format

 All tables should have a title which indicates the content.

 Column and row headings should be brief and self-explanatory.
 The source of the data should be included so original sources can be
checked.
 Units of measurements should be shown.
 Sets of data which are to be compared should be close together.
 Derived statistics, such as percentages, should be beside the figures to
which they relate.
 Approximations and omissions should be explained in footnotes.
Charts and Graphs in Excel
Basic Types:
Column
Bar
Line A graph is only useful if it is appropriate to the
Pie data. There are many different kinds of graphs in
(XY) Scatter Excel – the ones in italics are rarely used by data
Area analyst.
Doughnut
Radar
Surface
Bubble
etc.
Creating Graphs and Charts in Excel

Chart Wizard
 Select CHART under the INSERT menu to access the Chart Wizard.
 Select the required graph type.
 Input the required values and titles.
 Specify whether the chart is to appear in the same worksheet as the
data or in a new worksheet.
 It is possible to edit the graph further once you have exited the
wizard.
Pie Charts
 Used to represent qualitative or discrete data in the form of
frequencies.
 The pie (circle) represents the total count.
 The size of the angle of each slice represents the relative
frequency within each category.
 The pie chart works well with up to 7 categories.
 Pie Charts Example 1
Company Part
Company A 15%
Company B 12%
Company C 17%
Company D 18%
Company E 21%
Company F 3%
Company G 4%
Company H 2%
Company I 3%
Other 5%
Total 100%
For example, if you have several companies that
operate on the market, you can represent a part of
every company on the market as a slice.
 Pie Charts: Example 2

Year 1995 2005 2015Total

Elderly (70+) 212 349 521 1082
Adults (16-69) 569 681 1286 2536
Children(0-15) 57 90 178 325

Elderly (70+) 1082

Adults (16-69) 2536
Children(0-15) 325
Pie Charts: Example 2 (don’t use!)
Bar Charts
 Used to represent qualitative or discrete data in the form of
frequencies.
 Each bar represents one category.
 Each bar should be the same width.
 There are gaps between the bars
 The length of each bar represents the frequency within each
category.
 The bar chart works well with 5-15 categories.
 Excel refers to the usual vertical bar charts as ‘column charts’
Types of Bar Chart
Simple bar chart: Used to represent the total per category
Multiple bar chart: Used to represent the totals in sub-
categories
Stacked bar-chart: Used to represent the total per category
and the totals in sub-categories.
Percentage bar-chart: Used to represent the percentages in
sub-categories. (Total = 100%)
There are a number of different kinds of bar charts depending on what aspects of
the data you want to highlight.
Simple Bar Chart
Multiple Bar Chart
3-D Bar Chart (don’t use!)
Stacked Bar Chart
Stacked Bar Chart with Table
Percentage Bar Chart
Histograms
Similar to the bar chart, but with some fundamental differences:
The data is continuous.
There are no gaps between the bars.
Histograms in Excel with the Data Analysis Tool-Pak

Set up a column containing the (upper) class limits. This is called the ‘bin
range’.
Select the DATA ANALYSIS option in the DATA section of the Ribbon menu.
If this option does not appear, ensure the Analysis Tool-Pak ADD-INS have
been installed.
Select HISTOGRAM. In the dialog box specify the data range, bin range and
output option.
Use intervals (bin range) of the same width;
 Click on a bar to open ‘Format Data Series’; in the Series Options dialogue box
use the Gap Width slider to remove the gaps between the bars.
Histogram: Example Data
Exam Marks Frequency Cumulative %
Maybe if we’ve just
<40 3 5%
returned to Exam Marks
40-49 11 23% data to show how to do
50-59 18 53% histogram in Excel, then we
60-69 19 85% probably don’t need this
70-79 7 97% slide (and maybe next one
80-89 2 100% – tidy up exam marks
90+ 0 100% histogram instead).
Histogram
Frequency Polygons
If you join up the mid-points at the top of each bar, you get a
frequency polygon.
It is possible to construct a frequency polygon using the line
graph command.
If you wish to compare two or more bar charts or histograms
on the same graph, it is usually better to draw the frequency
polygon for each graph.
Consider plotting percentages if the totals are very different.
Frequency Polygons
Shapes
Bar charts, histograms and frequency polygons help to reveal the shape of
the underlying distribution.
Bar charts, histograms and frequency
polygons help to show the shape of
the underlying distribution. Is it
symmetrical like the middle diagram
or skewed like the other two, either
with some very low values or some
very high numbers.
You can see how the mean and
median are affected by skewed data.
Scatterplot
Y-axis - Dependent variable. The variable we are trying to explain.
What you want to predict.

X-axis - Independent variable. The variable we are using for

explanation. It might be possible to control the values taken by
this variable.
Scatterplot
Time Series
 A time series is a list of values measuring a single item (eg.
sales, prices, quantities) at regular intervals over time.

 When the data is in the form of a time series, a line graph can
be a useful means of showing any pattern or trend in the data.
Time Series Graph
Another graph that you might
come across is a time series plot. A
time is series is when we measure
the same variable at regular
intervals over time. It’s easiest to
interpret a time series pattern
when we look at a graph.
 Box Plot
A box and whisker plot—also called a
box plot—displays the five-number
summary of a set of data. The five-
number summary is the minimum, first
quartile, median, third quartile, and
maximum. In a box plot, we draw a box
from the first quartile to the third
quartile. A vertical line goes through
the box at the median
Good Graphs

 A graph should have a title.

 The axes should be clearly labeled.
 The units of measurement should be clearly stated.
Which graph should I use?
As a rough guide, use:
 a pie chart to show the breakdown of a total into sections
 a simple bar chart to compare totals for ungrouped frequency
table data
 a stacked or multiple bar chart to compare the break-down of
several totals
 a histogram for grouped frequency table data
 a line graph to show the movement of data over time
 a scatterplot to show the relationship between two variables
Questions?