Graphing and Describing Data in everyday Life
Irrespective of the nature and types of items being organized and represented, a list can be quickly interpreted and referenced when classified using a cumulative frequency distribution table. A cumulative frequency distribution table is a data organization and representation technique that uses a table to relatively associate an item or a variable with the number of times it appears and its weight in the list (Fisher and Marshall, 2019). It is preferred to a relative frequency table because of its additional descriptive statistics such as cumulative frequency and midpoints.
A cumulative frequency distribution table is the most appropriate technique for organizing and representing a list of all injuries in a clinic in one month as well as patients’ waiting time. In both datasets, the time would be given as grouped data. For the dataset on injuries, the time would be provided in days, while for a dataset on patients’ waiting period, it would be given in minutes. Each row would associate a particular class with its midpoint, the associated frequency, relative frequency, and cumulative frequency. Essentially, from the table, a statistician can quickly derive vital descriptive statistics as opposed to when the items are listed haphazardly.
A frequency bar chart is a data representation tool that shows frequency distribution (Holmes, 2017). It would be the most appropriate method to graphically represent the number of injuries and patients’ waiting time in a clinic. In both graphs, the x-axis would show time; in days for injuries and minutes for patients waiting. The y-axis, on the other hand, would denote the frequency. It is important to note that the frequency of the dataset on injuries would equate to the number of days, while for the patients’ waiting dataset, it would be equivalent to the number of patients.
References
Fisher, M. J., & Marshall, A. P. (2019). Understanding descriptive statistics. Australian Critical Care, 22(2), 93-97.
Holmes, A., Illowsky, B., & Dean, S. (2017). Introductory business statistics. OpenStax. Retrieved from https://openstax.org/details/books/introductory-business-statistics