biometry – bio220

chapter 2
displaying data

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Reminder from Ch1

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 why graphs?
• humans and primates - visual species
• can understand patterns in data via graphics
• when doing analysis: plot your data first  get
a feeling  decide on the analysis later
• show your results via graphs

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 Types of graphs
• Bar plots
• Histograms (single, multiple)
• Cumulative relative frequency plots
• Mosaic plots
• Scatter plots
• Line graphs
• Others

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 bar plots
• bar plot (or bar graph) for categorical data
• plots frequencies or relative frequencies
• relative frequency = proportion = fraction
(from 0 to 1)

• example: causes of death in US teenagers

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bar plots

- what is the
variable?
- type of
the
variable?

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bar plots
would the shape be
different if we had plotted
relative frequencies or
percentages?

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 bar plots
• rules for bar plot:
1- the order of the bars:
• if data ordinal, bars follow the variables' order
• if nominal, you may order by frequency
2- gaps between bars – why?
3- aid your reader: add info on total number of
observations in the legend
4- prefer 0 as baseline
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bar plot vs histogram

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 histograms
• histograms for numerical data
• bin (group) the data
• plot frequencies (or relative frequencies) of
each bin
• no gap between adjacent bars  indicates
continuity

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 histograms

assume we
are studying
species
abundance:
what is the
variable
here?

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 histograms
• if we are interested in describing "abundance
for each bird species"  our variable is "bird
species" (each observation classified as X or Y
species)  a nominal variable  bar plot

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 histograms
• if we are interested in describing "bird species
abundance in general = number of individuals
of any one species (rare vs common)"  our
variable is numeric  histogram

• for a histogram, we may need to create bins

• we can bin the abundance data by 50  will
have 650/50 = 13 bins

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histograms

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histograms

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histograms

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 histograms
• the shape tells you about the data
distributions  the population’s character
• note the outlier

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distributions

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 distributions
• types: uniform vs normal vs exponential vs
gamma
• mode: the peak = most frequent bin
• unimodal vs bimodal
• skew = asymmetry
• skewed to the right or left = tail extends right
or left, respectively
• outliers = extreme observations
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 rules about histograms
• 1) choose number of bins (i.e. interval size)
carefully
• your choice may help detect or conceal signals in
data
• Sturge`s Rule for optimal bin numbers
– Optimal Bins = ⌈log2n + 1⌉
– n: The total number of observations in the dataset.
– ⌈ ⌉: Symbols mean “ceiling” – i.e. round the answer
up to the nearest integer.

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bin size choice can hide signals

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 rules about histograms
• 2) observation at boundaries  added to the
right-hand bin (higher bin)
– e.g. 250 into 250-300, not 200-250

• 3) prefer 0 as baseline

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 rules about histograms
• 4) prefer to break at readable numbers
– e.g. 0.5 instead of 0.483

• 5) always add info on total number of

observations (n) in the legend

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cumulative relative frequency plots

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cumulative relative frequency plots

how will the

cumulative relative
frequency plot of this
data look like?

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cumulative relative frequency plots

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cumulative relative frequency plots
• another representation of numerical data
• can be helpful for multiple distributions
• shows percentiles / quantiles
• 5th percentile = 0.05th quantile: a value X,
where 5% of all values are < X
• 50th percentile = 0.5th quantile: median

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cumulative relative frequency plots
• cumulative relative frequency distribution: a
graph of quantiles (or percentiles)
• y-axis: represent 0-1, or 0-100%

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cumulative relative frequency plots

high slope  more

data in that range

low slope  less data

in that range

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cumulative relative frequency plots
• histogram better to digest & detect patterns
than cumulative freq plots
• but cumulative freq plots can be helpful for
comparing multiple distributions

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associations between categorical variables

• contingency tables: is variable X related to Y?

• example: does laying extra egg (after

experimental egg removal) increase malaria
risk in birds?

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associations between categorical variables

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associations between categorical variables

• how can we plot this?

• bar plot or histogram?

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associations between categorical variables

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associations between categorical variables

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associations between categorical variables

• mosaic plot: shows the area

• bars not of fixed width, reflect total
observation
– can choose between bar plot and mosaic plot

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association between categorical and numeric
variables

• multiple histograms / cumulative freq graphs

• example: hemoglobin level in men from USA

(sea-level), Andes, Tibet, and Ethiopia (all
≥3500m)

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association between categorical and numeric
variables

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association between categorical and numeric
variables

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association between 2 numeric var: scatter
plot
• what does
each point
represent?
• are the two
variables
positively
correlated?

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 association between 2 numeric var: scatter
plot

• each point is a unit, plotted for X and Y

• X-axis: explanatory (independent)
• Y-axis: response (dependent)

• example: male fish sexual attractiveness – is it

inherited?

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association between 2 numeric var: line
graph

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 association between 2 numeric var: line
graph

• each point is a unit

• X: an ordered series, like time
• one Y for each X (like a function)
• points connected by a line

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 association between 3 or more numeric
variables
• maps
• X & Y: ordered series (usually spatial)
• Z: another variable (e.g. frequency), shown in
color key

• example: ozone concentration in the Southern

Hemisphere

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association between 3 or more numeric
variables

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other common graphs: boxplots

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 other common graphs:
Kaplan-Meier curves
• cumulative probability of survival of fruit flies
under dietary restriction (DR)

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10.1038/nature08619
other common graphs: heatmaps
genes individuals (age)

color key
(relative expression) 48
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02661
 to make a good graph
• identify axes
• provide additional info in the legend
• represent magnitudes accurately
• if possible, show the original data (not just
summaries)
• draw clearly, minimize unclear patterns
• make easy to interpret

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what to avoid when drawing graphs?

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what to avoid when drawing graphs?

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 what to avoid when drawing graphs?

• bars: imply relative magnitude / relative

frequency  zero baseline more accurate
• first graph implies change is e.g. 20X
• but there is also clear change with time 
• can use scatter plot / line graph instead
• or, indicate that the y-axis is cut

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 what to avoid when drawing graphs?

• don’t use non-essential elements

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 what to avoid when drawing graphs?

• don’t make it too complicated

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 to make a good graph
• choosing the right amount of information to
convey
• labeling axes
• font size
• adding units
• choice of color (red/green not good)

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summary

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summary

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 exercise
• please solve all problems at the back of the
chapter 2
• Ask your questions at Office hours

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