Lecture 4
Introduction to Statistics
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Graphical Summaries of Data: Dot Plot
The graphical summaries of quantitative data can be done using
dot plot and histogram (Anderson, pg. 74).
One of the simplest graphical summaries of data is a dot plot.
A horizontal axis shows the range for the data. Each data value
is represented by a dot placed above the axis.
These data show the time in days required to complete year-
end audits for a sample of 20 clients of Sanderson and Clifford,
a small public accounting firm. Dot plot can be created to
represent this data.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Graphical Summaries of Data: Dot Plot (Contd.)
Following is the dot plot for the audit time data. The three
dots located above 18 on the horizontal axis indicate that an
audit time of 18 days occurred three times.
Dot plots show the details of the data and are useful for com-
paring the distribution of the data for two or more variables.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Graphical Summaries of Data: Histogram
A common graphical display of quantitative data is a histogram
(Anderson, pg. 74).
A histogram is constructed by placing the variable of interest
on the horizontal axis and the frequency on the vertical axis.
Histogram can be prepared for frequency, relative frequency, or
percent frequency distribution.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Graphical Summaries of Data: Histogram (Contd.)
One of the most important uses of a histogram is to provide
information about the shape, or form, of a distribution.
Panel A shows the histogram for a set of data moderately
skewed to the left. A histogram is said to be skewed to the
left if its tail extends farther to the left.
This histogram is typical for exam scores, with no scores above
100%, most of the scores above 70%, and only a few really low
scores.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Graphical Summaries of Data: Histogram (Contd.)
One of the most important uses of a histogram is to provide
information about the shape, or form, of a distribution.
Panel B shows the histogram for a set of data moderately
skewed to the right. A histogram is said to be skewed to the
right if its tail extends farther to the right.
An example of this type of histogram would be for data such
as housing prices; a few expensive houses create the skewness
in the right tail.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Graphical Summaries of Data: Histogram (Contd.)
One of the most important uses of a histogram is to provide
information about the shape, or form, of a distribution.
Panel C shows a symmetric histogram. In a symmetric his-
togram, the left tail mirrors the shape of the right tail. His-
tograms for data found in applications are never perfectly sym-
metric, but the histogram for many applications may be roughly
symmetric.
Data for SAT scores, heights and weights of people, and so on
lead to histograms that are roughly symmetric.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Graphical Summaries of Data: Histogram (Contd.)
One of the most important uses of a histogram is to provide
information about the shape, or form, of a distribution.
Panel D shows a histogram highly skewed to the right. This his-
togram was constructed from data on the amount of customer
purchases over one day at a women’s apparel store. Data from
applications in business and economics often lead to histograms
that are skewed to the right.
For instance, data on housing prices, salaries, purchase amounts,
and so on often result in histograms skewed to the right.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Cumulative Distributions
Cumulative Distributions: provides another tabular summary of
quantitative data which shows the number of data items with values
less than or equal to the upper class limit of each class (Anderson,
pg. 77).
Consider a frequency distribution for which Cumulative Distributions
is to be created.
A cumulative relative frequency is found by dividing the corresponding
cumulative frequency by the total number of observations.
The cummulative distribution is,
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Ogives
Cumulative information can be portrayed using a graph called
an ogive.
To construct an ogive, we first make a table that displays cu-
mulative frequencies and cumulative relative frequencies.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Ogives (Contd.)
Cumulative information can be portrayed using a graph called
an ogive.
To construct an ogive, we first make a table that displays cu-
mulative frequencies and cumulative relative frequencies.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Exercise 1
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Exercise 2
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Exercise 3
Construct a histogram for the data in exercise 2.
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
Exercise 4
Introduction to Statistics Lecture 4
