Organising and presenting

7 data

● Record, organise and represent categorical, discrete and continuous data.

Choose and explain which representation to use in a given situation.

Organising data
In Unit 3 of this book you encountered different types of data. These
included discrete, continuous and categorical data. Data can be
organised in several ways; which method is chosen depends largely
on the type of data being collected. This unit introduces you to the
main types of diagram used for organising and presenting data.
Constructing a tally and frequency table is a simple way of
recording the number of results in each category.
For example, a survey is carried out to test the manufacturer’s claim
that there are ‘about 36 chocolate buttons in each packet’.
The number of buttons in each of 25 packets is counted, giving the
figures below.
35 36 34 37 36 36 38 37 36 35 38
34 35 36 36 34 37 38 37 36 35 36
36 37 36

Displayed as a list, the numbers are not clear.

However, they are easier to analyse if they are recorded in a tally and
frequency chart like this.

LET’S TALK Number Tally Frequency

Why is a diagonal 34 ||| 3
line used for every
fifth tally mark? 35 |||| 4
36 |||| |||| 10
37 |||| 5
38 ||| 3

The tally column is filled in as the survey is being carried out.

The frequency column is completed by counting up the tally marks
at the end of the survey.

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 7 Organising and presenting data

Sometimes, if there is a big range in the data, it is more useful to

group the data in a grouped frequency table. The groups are
chosen so that no data item can appear in two groups.
For example, the ages of 30 residents in a care home are shown below.
98 71 76 77 72 78 77 73 76 86
75 79 81 105 100 74 82 88 91 96
85 90 97 102 83 101 83 84 80 95

Constructing a tally and frequency table with a list of individual ages

will not be very useful as most ages in the range will only have one
or two results. Grouping the data into the age ranges 71–80, 81–90
etc. produces this more useful table:
Age Tally Frequency
71–80 |||| |||| || 12
81–90 |||| |||| 9
91–100 |||| | 6
101–110 ||| 3

The ages could have been grouped 71–75, 76–80, 81–85 etc. The
group size is the decision of the person collecting the data, but it is
important that the groups are all the same size and do not overlap.
The examples above were for discrete data. However tally and
frequency tables can be used for organising continuous data too.
The table below shows the time taken to run 100 m by a class of
30 children.
Time (seconds) Tally Frequency
12–13 || 2
13–14 |||| 4
14–15 |||| ||| 8
15–16 |||| |||| | 11
16–17 |||| 4
17–18 |   1

It seems that some numbers appear in more than one group.

However with continuous data, results can take any value. A
pupil may complete the race in 14.9 seconds, but a more accurate
stopwatch may record the time as 14.99 seconds or even

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 SECTION 1

14.999 seconds. So the group 14–15 for example is taken to mean

any time from 14 up to but not including 15 seconds. The group
15–16 is taken to mean any time from 15 up to but not including 16
seconds and so on.
So far the examples given have only dealt with one variable. In the
first example the variable was the number of chocolate buttons in a
pack, in the second example the variable was the age of residents in
a care home, whilst in the final example it was the time taken to run
100 m. If the data for two variables are being collected, an effective
method is to use a two-way table.

Worked example
The maths test results of a group of 40 pupils are shown in the two-way table below:

Test results %
1–20 21–40 41–60 61–80 81–100
Boys 1 4 6 5 2
Girls 0 5 7 8 1

a What are the two variables?

Test results % and gender
b How many girls sat the test?
5 + 7 + 8 + 1 = 21 21 girls sat the test.
c To pass the test, pupils have to get more than 60% in the test. How many pupils failed the test?
1 + 4 + 6 + 5 + 7 = 23 23 pupils failed the test.

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 7 Organising and presenting data

Exercise 7.1
1 The midday temperature (°C) of all the days in July at a holiday resort are recorded and the
results shown in the frequency table below.

Temperature (°C) 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
Frequency 1 8 6 7 2 4
a How many days had a temperature of at least 29°C?
b How many days had a temperature of 27°C?
2 The lengths (cm) of 50 worms of the same species are measured and recorded.
The first 45 results are shown in the grouped frequency table below.

Length (cm) Tally Frequency

10–12 |||| |
12–14 |||| |||| |||
14–16 17
16–18 ||||
18–20 4
a Explain whether the length of a worm, measured as accurately as possible, is an example of
discrete or continuous data. Justify your answer.
b The remaining five worms were measured and their lengths recorded as:
10.6 cm  16.1 cm  13.9 cm  12.0 cm  11.9 cm
Copy and complete the grouped tally and frequency table to include the remaining five
worms.
c It is known that females of this species of worm always have length in the range 10–16 cm,
whilst males of the species always have lengths in the range 14–20 cm.
i) How many female worms were definitely part of the data collection? Justify your answer.
ii) What is the maximum number of male worms measured as part of this survey?
3 A survey is carried out amongst 40 children in a school to see what is their favourite animal.
The results are presented in the two-way table below.

Lion Camel Monkey Mouse Other Total

Boys 5 1 2 6 24
Girls 4 5 0
Total 7 40
a Copy and complete the table.
b How many girls said lions were their favourite animal?
c How many boys chose monkey as their favourite animal?
d If a pupil said that a rabbit was their favourite animal, decide whether it was a boy or girl
who answered. Give a convincing reason for your answer.

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Displaying data
Once the data has been collected, it can be displayed in several
ways. Which method is chosen depends on the type of data collected
and the audience it is intended for.
One of the simplest and most effective is to use a Venn diagram.
A Venn diagram arranges the data into categories as shown in the
example below.

Worked example
The numbers 1–20 are grouped into those that are multiples of two and those that are multiples of
three as shown in the Venn diagram.

Two Three

20 3 13
2 6
9 17
4 12
7 8 15 19
10 18
14 11
1
16
5
They appear in the
All the numbers 1–20 appear within the rectangle. Those inside the overlap of the two
circle labelled ‘Two’ are multiples of two and those inside the circle circles.
labelled ‘Three’ are multiples of three.
a Which numbers are multiples of two and three? They appear
The numbers 6, 12 and 18. outside the circles,
b Which numbers are multiples of neither two nor three? but still within the
The numbers 1, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 and 19. rectangle.

Another common way or arranging data into categories is to use a

Carroll diagram.

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 7 Organising and presenting data

Worked example
The numbers 1–20 are arranged into four categories. These are multiples of 3, not multiples of 3,
even numbers and odd numbers. In a Carroll diagram they can be arranged as shown.

Even Odd
Multiple of 3 6, 12, 18 3, 9, 15
Not a multiple of 3 2, 4, 8, 10, 14, 16, 20 1, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19

a Which of the numbers are odd multiples of 3?

3, 9 and 15 are odd multiples of 3.
b Which numbers are even multiples of 3?
6, 12 and 18 are all even multiples of 3.

Exercise 7.2
1 In a school sports day, pupils can enter track events (T) and field events (F). The Venn diagram
shows the number of pupils taking part in each type of event.

T F

27 15 22

a How many pupils entered track events?

b How many pupils only entered field events?
c How many pupils did not take part in any track or field events?
2 The members of a book group are asked whether they like fiction (F) or non-fiction (N)
literature. The results are shown in the Venn diagram.

F N

8 12 5

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 SECTION 1

a 20 people like fiction and 17 like non-fiction. One member says that therefore there must
be 37 people in the book group. Explain whether this is correct or not. Justify your answer.
b How many members like just one of the types of literature?
3 Ten shapes are shown below.

1 2 3 4 5

9 10
6 7 8

a Paul decides to classify the shapes in a Carroll diagram and draws one as shown:

4-sided Blue
5-sided
Yellow
Explain why Paul’s Carroll diagram is not suitable for organising the 10 shapes.
b Design a Carroll diagram which will be suitable for classifying the shapes and enter the
numbers of the shapes in the correct part of your diagram.

Probably the most common way of displaying data is the bar

graph or frequency diagram. It is quick and easy to draw, and
straightforward to understand.

Worked example
120 students from years 7, 8 and 9 of a school carry out a survey to see which subjects are most
popular. Their results are shown in the frequency table.

Subject Sport Science Maths Art Languages Total

Frequency 40 20 30 15 15 120

Show this information on a frequency diagram.

Favourite subject
50
40
Frequency

30
20
10
0
Sport Science Maths Art Languages
Subject

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 7 Organising and presenting data

The graph is fully labelled.

The bars are all the same width. As the data is categorical the bars do not touch.
The height of each bar represents the frequency.
A breakdown of the number of girls and boys voting for their favourite subject is shown below.

Subject Sport Science Maths Art Languages Total

Frequency (Girls) 16 10 18 5 6 55
Frequency (Boys) 24 10 12 10 9 65
Total 40 20 30 15 15 120

If the results of the girls’ responses are to be compared with the boys’ responses, rather than draw
two separate frequency diagrams, it is more useful to plot a dual frequency diagram.

Favourite subjects of girls compared with boys

30

25

20
Frequency

15
Girls

10 Boys

0
Sport Science Maths Art Languages
Subject

The graph is fully labelled.

The bars are all the same width. The girls’ columns are presented next to the boys’ columns within each
category. This makes comparisons between the two easier.

The two types of bar chart shown so far can be combined to form
a compound bar chart. As shown on the next page, each subject
consists of one bar, but each bar is divided into girls and boys.

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Favourite subjects of girls compared with boys

45
40
35
30

Frequency
25
20 Boys
15 Girls
10
5
0
Sport Science Maths Art Languages
Subject

Frequency diagrams can also be used to display discrete grouped

data and continuous grouped data. The difference between the
two is that with discrete data the bars do not touch, whilst with
continuous data they do.

Worked example
A train company wants to see how late its trains are. It conducts a survey of 100 trains and the
results are shown in the grouped frequency table and grouped frequency diagram.
Train lateness
Lateness (mins) Frequency
60
0–5 54 50
5–10 27 40
Frequency

10–15 13 30
20
15–20 5
10
20–25 1
0
0–5 5–10 10–15 15–20 20–25
The graph shows that most trains are Lateness (mins)
late between 0 and 5 mins.

Note that because the data is continuous, there are no gaps between the bars. 0–5 means from
0 up to but not including 5, 5–10 means from 5 up to but not including 10 etc.

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 7 Organising and presenting data

Exercise 7.3
1 Twelve people were asked which sandwiches they had bought from a sandwich shop. Their
answers were:
Chicken Tuna Egg Chicken
Egg Tomato Chicken Tuna
Tomato Egg Chicken Chicken
Show this information on a bar chart.
2 Five different types of data collection are listed:
Discrete Continuous Grouped discrete Grouped continuous Categorical
a Give an example of a data collection for each of the types mentioned.
b Collect your own data for one of the types listed and present the results in an appropriate
frequency diagram. Justify your choice of diagram.
c Collect your own data for a different type listed and present the results in another
frequency diagram.
3 A sports club canteen keeps a record of the number of drinks it sells over two days.
Part of the dual frequency graph is shown.
Drink sales
14

12

10
Frequency

6 Bottle of water
Can of soft drink
4

0
Monday Tuesday
Day

Bottles of water are sold for $1.20 and cans of soft drink are sold for $1.60.
a The total made from selling water bottles over the two days is $19.20. Calculate the number
of bottles of water sold on Tuesday.
b The total made from selling both types of drink over the two days is $46.40.
Copy and complete the dual frequency diagram to show the drinks sold on Tuesday.
4 A fitness club carries out a survey to find out the ages of its members. Here are the results.

22 18 23 17 44 42 50 19 21 23 11 16
38 55 62 41 17 19 23 36 38 42 35 33
18 22 63 48 9 7 17 23 36 48 54 60

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 SECTION 1

a Make a grouped tally and frequency table using the age groups 1–10, 11–20, 21–30 etc.
b Is the data grouped discrete data or grouped continuous data? Justify your answer.
c Draw a frequency diagram of the data.
d What does the data tell you about the ages of people at the fitness club?
5 A zoologist weighs a sample of mice found in a field.
The mass (g) of 50 mice is recorded, grouped and shown in the two-way table below.

Mass (g) Male Female

KEY INFORMATION
60–80 1 4 It is not always possible to survey a whole
80–100 5 10 population so a sample is taken. The aim of a
sample is to be representative of the population,
100–120   8 i.e. show the same properties as the whole
population.
120–140

Unfortunately the zoologist’s pen leaked during the data collection.

a It is known that as a population 26% are males with a mass of 100–120 g and there
are twice as many males as females with a mass of 120–140 g. Assuming the sample is
representative of the whole population, copy and complete the table.
b Draw a compound grouped frequency diagram of the data.

In frequency diagrams and bar graphs, the frequency is represented

by the height of the bar. Another popular way of displaying data
is to use either a pie chart or a waffle diagram. On these, each
frequency is represented by a fraction of either a circle or a waffle
diagram.

Worked example
Look again at the data about students’ favourite subjects. Show this information on a pie chart.
● First you need to express the frequency of each subject as a fraction of the total number of
students.
Favourite subject
Sport is 120
40
= 31 of the total,
Science is 120
20
= 61 of the total, Languages
Maths is 120
30
= 14 of the total, Sport Sport
and Art and Languages are 120 15
= 81 each. Art Science
● To draw the pie chart without a protractor, Maths
an understanding of fractions helps.
Art
For example, Sport and Science together
Languages
represent half of the total, and Maths,
Art and Languages represent the other half Maths
of the total. Science

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 7 Organising and presenting data

The pie chart has a heading and a key, and each slice is clearly labelled.
The pie chart is divided into slices, which are fractions of the circle.
The size of each slice represents the frequency, as a fraction of the total number of students.
A waffle is rectangular and split into squares. The number of squares that are shaded represent
the fraction of the total. Therefore the example above can be represented in a waffle diagram
which is split in to 120 squares.
Favourite subject Key
Sport
Science
Maths
Art
Languages

Although this particular waffle diagram has been split in to 120 squares, meaning 1 square
represents 1 pupil, having the same number is not necessary. What is important is the fraction of
the waffle diagram that is shaded.

Exercise 7.4
1 A baker’s shop sells brown (B), white (W), wholemeal (M) and soda (S) bread. It keeps a record
of the types of loaves it sells. The data is shown below.

B B W M W M B W M S
B B B W M W M B M B
S W W B B W M M M M
B M M W M W B S M M
a Construct a tally and frequency table of the results.
b Calculate the fraction of the total for each type of bread sold.
c Draw a waffle diagram to display this data.
2 The number of litres of milk consumed in a group of 160 houses per week are shown in the table.

Number of litres 1 2 3 4 5 6
Frequency 20 20 60 40 10 10

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 SECTION 1

a Calculate the fraction of the total for each number of litres consumed.
b Draw a pie chart to represent this data.
c Draw a waffle diagram with 32 squares to represent this data.
3 90 students sat a maths exam. On the way out of the hall, they were asked whether they found
it hard, OK or easy. Here are the responses expressed as a fraction of the total with one value
missing.

Response Easy OK Hard

Fraction 1
2
1
3

a Show the results on a pie chart.

b How many students found the exam easy? Show all your working clearly.
4 Four pie charts are shown below. Three of them can be paired with a waffle diagram which
represents the same data.

A B C D

1 2 3

a Match three of the pie charts with their corresponding waffle diagram.
b Draw a waffle diagram to represent the remaining pie chart.

Line graphs, scatter graphs and infographics

This section will introduce you to other common types of graph.
A line graph is usually used to show a trend over a period of time.

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 7 Organising and presenting data

Worked example
The height (cm) of a sunflower is measured over a period of 8 weeks from LET’S TALK
when it starts to grow out of the ground. Measurements are taken on the Although
same day each week. measurements
Sunflower height were only taken
200 once a week, why
180 is it acceptable to
160 join the points?
140
Height (cm)

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number of weeks

The points are plotted and then joined up with straight lines. This is a useful graph as it is possible
to make predictions of the height of the sunflower between measurements.
1
Estimate the height of the sunflower after 4 2 weeks.
A dashed line can be drawn up from 4 21 weeks until it meets the line of the graph. A horizontal
line is then drawn until it meets the vertical axis as shown below.
1
The height of the sunflower is approximately 100 cm after 4 2 weeks.
Sunflower height
200
180
160
140
Height (cm)

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Number of weeks

A scatter graph is used if you are trying to see if there is a relationship

between two variables. The two variables are plotted as a single point
on a graph.

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 SECTION 1

Worked example
A doctor decides to collect some data on the mass (kg) and height (cm) of toddlers attending her
clinic. The average mass and height of toddlers of different ages are presented in the table below.
The scatter graph is also plotted.

Average Average
Age (months) height (cm) mass (kg)
12 74.3 9.4
13 75.3 9.7
14 76.7 9.9
15 78.1 10.1
16 78.8 10.4
17 80.0 10.6
18 80.7 10.8
19 81.8 11.0
20 82.7 11.2
21 83.5 11.6
22 84.6 11.8
23 85.2 12.0

13

12
Average mass (kg)

11

10

8
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90
Average height (cm)

Each point represents the average result for a particular age of toddler.
The scatter graph helps us to decide whether there is a relationship between the two variables.
Is there a relationship between the average height and average mass of a toddler?
In this case as the points rise from left to right, it implies that taller toddlers tend to be heavier.

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 7 Organising and presenting data

Infographics are used to display data in picture form. Quite often

they are used to make the data more attractive and also to make it
more easily understood by the viewer.

Worked example
The five tallest mountains in the world are ranked below.

Rank Mountain Height (m)

1 Everest 8848
2 K2 8611
3 Kangchenjunga 8586
4 Lhotse 8516
5 Makalu 8485
This data could be represented as a bar chart. However as an infographic it could be displayed as
follows:
Heights of five tallest mountains in the world

9000
8848 m
8900

8800

8700
8611 m
8586 m
Height (m)

8600
8516 m 8485 m
8500

8400

8300
8200

8100 Everest K2 Kang- Lhotse Makalu

chenjunga
8000

There is no right or wrong way of drawing an infographic. What is important is that the viewer
can quickly see what the data is about. Here the use of mountains in the image makes it obvious
that the data is to do with mountains.

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Exercise 7.5
1 A coffee shop produces the following infographic:
12%
20%

%
8%
Latte
Cappuccino
Americano
%
15% Espresso
Other

45%

a What do you think this infographic is showing?

b Describe one thing that you like about this infographic.
c Describe one thing that could be improved.
d Design your own infographic for this data.
2 A gardener measures the temperature (°C) in his greenhouse in two-hour intervals between
10:00 and 20:00 one day. The results are shown in the table below:

Time of day 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00

Temperature (°C) 12 18 26 22 32 10
a Plot a line graph of the data.
b The gardener looks at the results and thinks that one of them must be wrong. Circle the
result that is likely to be incorrect on your graph. Justify your answer.
c On your graph mark a new position for the point you circled in part (b) and justify your
answer.
d Estimate the likely temperature of the greenhouse at 13:00.

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 7 Organising and presenting data

3 Three scatter graphs are shown below.

A B C

Data is collected for three different investigations. These are:

i) the number of ice-creams sold per hour by an ice-cream vendor and the temperature
during that hour
ii) pupils’ maths test results and their English test results
iii) the value of a car and its age.
a Match each scatter graph to the likely data from each investigation. Justify your choices.
b Describe three different investigations which you think are likely to produce similar scatter
graphs to the ones shown above. Justify your choices.

Now you have completed Unit 7, you may like to try the Unit 7
online knowledge test if you are using the Boost eBook.

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