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Graph Help

Here we will explain helpful tips when reading graphs! This information can also be found in SmartGirl's SmartCenter.

In our reports we usually use three types of measurements: bar graphs, column graphs, and pie charts.

Bar Graphs: A display of information in which the length of each bar indicates how often it occurs. For example look at Figure A. Every bar graph should have a title telling readers what information the graph shows and axes that show the categories and values being compared. Remember the longer the bar of a category, the more value that specific category has. In Figure A which category is the largest?

Column Graphs: Column graphs are very similar to bar graphs and are also often called bar graphs. The only difference is that column graphs are a display of information in which the height of each bar indicates how often it occurs. Every column graph should have a title telling readers what information the graph shows and axes that show the categories and values being compared. Remember the higher the bar of a category, the more value that specific category has. In Figure B which category is the shortest?

Pie Charts: Pie charts are circular graphs divided into pieces, often called pie pieces. These pie pieces are divided by the percentage of the number of responses each category gets. A percentage is a way of expressing a number as a fraction of 100. All of the pieces must always add up to 100%. The categories can be either on the pie pieces or in a key as in Figure C. Look at Figure C for an example of a typical pie chart.

Other Important Terms:

P-Value: P-Value also stands for probability value represents the probability that what we have found through statistical tests has happened by accident. The p-value is reported as a decimal ranging from 0 to 1 and can actually be read as a percent if multiplied by 100. For example, if the p-value from one of the tests I run is .34, then I can multiple .34 by 100 and get 34%. This means that there was a 34% chance that I got my result purely by chance and not because of any real relationship between my variables. Generally social scientists only report their results if the p-value is less than .05 (meaning that we could have gotten that result only 5% of the time by chance). This way we can be more certain that what we find actually tells us something about the variables that we are testing.

Probability: The likelihood that some event will happen. In statistics, probability tells us if what we have found most likely happened by accident or if it was more than just an accident.

Average: A statistical value that says what is typical about a set of data.

Axis/axes: The number lines that are used to make a graph. There are usually two axes that are perpendicular to each other. The vertical axis is called the y-axis and the horizontal axis is called the x-axis.

Variable: A factor being measured in a research project. Sample variables may be age, country, salary, number of books read, etc.

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