Data Presentation in Context

This lesson covers the selection and construction of appropriate statistical diagrams for presenting real data. At A-Level, you are expected not only to draw diagrams accurately but also to choose the most suitable type for the data and the question being asked, and to interpret diagrams in context.

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Choosing the Right Diagram

The choice of diagram depends on the type of data and the purpose of the presentation.

Diagram	Best for	Data type
Histogram	Showing the distribution of a continuous variable	Continuous, grouped
Box plot	Comparing distributions, showing median, quartiles, and outliers	Continuous
Cumulative frequency diagram	Estimating median, quartiles, and percentiles	Continuous, grouped
Scatter diagram	Showing the relationship between two variables	Bivariate, continuous
Stem-and-leaf diagram	Displaying raw data while showing the distribution	Small data sets, discrete or continuous
Bar chart	Comparing frequencies across categories	Categorical
Pie chart	Showing proportions of a whole	Categorical
Time series	Showing how a variable changes over time	Continuous, ordered by time