This document discusses different types of graphics and narratives used to describe quantitative data. It describes bar charts, line charts, and pie charts that are appropriate for different types of data. Pivot tables and frequency tables are introduced to summarize data. Examples are provided of trend graphs, pie charts, and line graphs used to display data. The narrative section emphasizes addressing data in tables while avoiding excessive detail, and placing tables and graphics near their discussion in the text. Descriptive statistics like means, medians, and percentages are discussed for different data types.

1. 1
Chapter 11: Descriptions of
Quantitative Data Continued

2. Graphics and Narratives
 Developing Graphics
 Interval and Ratio
 Histograms and line graphs
 Nominal and Ordinal
 Pie charts or bar charts
 Writing the Narrative
 If objective of the research is to compare 2 or
more groups, provide only the descriptive
information for each group
2

3. Bar Chart
 Used to compare things between different
groups
 Or track changes over time
 Useful for data that’s easy to categorize
3

4. Line Chart
 Used when you want to show a trend in
data at equal intervals
 E.g.
 Change in student enrollment over the school
year
 Number of travelers on two different airlines
for each quarter
4

5. Pie Chart
 Used when you want to show the
proportion of an item that makes up a
series of data points
 E.g.
 Percentage of children living in poverty by
ethnicity
 Proportion of night students and day students
enrolled
 Age of participants by gender
5

6. Pivot Tables
 Allows you to summarize information that
you find in lists and tables without using
any formulas or functions
 Be able to take already created data and
create tables that extract exactly the
information you want to use
6

7. 7
Frequency Tables
 Summarize descriptive data
GPA range* n Percent
1.5-1.99 3 1.6
2.0 – 2.49 7 3.7
2.5 – 2.99 10 5.3
3.0 – 3.49 124 65.3
3.5 – 4.0 46 24.2
TOTAL N = 190 100.0
Table 1: GPA of Black Feather Youth
= 3.21; STD = .41; Median = 3.2; Mode = 3.0
Min. = 1.5; Max. = 4.0; Range =2.5
X

8. 8
Using Graphs to Display Data
 Trend graph / Pie Chart
Mean Attitude Towards Police by Age
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Age
Score
10 15 20 25 30
Line graph illustrating Attitude Towards Police by Age
52.6%
47.4%
Female
Male
Pie chart illustrating the proportion of males
and females responding to the Black Feather
Youth Survey (N = 190)

9. Writing the Narrative
 Always address data contained in tables, but avoid
discussing every detail
 Tables and graphics should be placed near the
location in the narrative where they are mentioned
 Interval and ratio data should be described with
means, standard deviations and Ns
 Median, minimum, and maximum if not normal distribution
 Always report Ns when reporting percentages
 Only use percentages to compare groups that are
similar in size, otherwise misleading
 Avoid reporting percentages for small group
 50% is less than 10 cases 9