DEBRE BERHAN UNIVERSITY
ASRAT WELDEYES HEALTH SCIENCE CAMPAS
SCHOOL OF MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY
Advanced Biostatistics Assignment
By:Yihenew Enyew
December 2024,
Debre Berhan,Ethiopia
Data presentation methods
1. Histogram
2. Stem-and-leaf plot
3. Frequency polygon
4. Cumulative frequency
5. Box-and-whisker plot
6. Ogive curve
7. Scatter plot
8. Line graph
Objectives
After completing this presentation, students will be able to:
• Explain the uses of various data presentation methods for
summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting data, including:
Histogram
Stem-and-leaf plot
Frequency polygon
Cumulative frequency
Box-and-whisker plot
Ogive curve
Scatter plot
Line graph
Introduction
In biostatistics, data presentation is a critical part of the process
of analyzing and interpreting complex biological, clinical, and
public health data.
The goal of data presentation is to organize and display data
clearly, making it easier to understand, interpret, and
communicate to various audiences, including researchers,
healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public.
Effective data presentation helps stakeholders identify trends,
relationships, distributions, and key features of the data.
[Link]
Histograms are frequency distributions with continuous class
intervals that have been turned into graphs.
To construct a histogram, we draw the class boundaries on a
horizontal line and the frequencies on a vertical line.
Non-overlapping intervals that cover all of the data values
must be used.
The area of each bar is proportional to the frequency of
observations in the interval
Example Distribution of AST Levels in 30 Patients in
ahospital
10,45,12,50,14,55,18,60,20,65,22,70,25,80,28,90,30,100,32,110,
35,120,38,40,130,28,140,26,150,95
interval 10-34 35-58 59-82 83-106 107-130 131-154
frequency 12 6 4 3 3 2
Table 1 shows Distribution of AST Levels in 30 Patients
Drawback of histograms
Two problems with histograms
1. They are somewhat difficult to construct
2. The actual values within the respective groups are lost and
difficult to reconstruct
The other graphic display (stem-and-leaf plot) overcomes
these problems
[Link]-and-leaf plot
A quick way to organize data to give visual impression similar
to a histogram while retaining much more detail on the data.
Similar to histogram and serves the same purpose and reveals
the presence or absence of symmetry
Are most effective with relatively small data sets
Are not suitable for reports and other communications, but
help researchers to understand the nature of their data
Example: distribution of urea result of 15 patients
43, 28, 34, 61, 77, 82, 22, 47, 49, 51, 29, 36, 66,
72, 41
2 2 8 9
3 4 6
4 1 3 7 9
5 1
6 1 6
7 2 7
8 2
Drawback of stem and leaf plot
Not practical for large datasets - Becomes cluttered and hard
to read.
Limited flexibility in grouping data -Predefined intervals
might not capture important details.
Difficult to interpret -The "stem" and "leaf" concept might
confuse non-statistical audiences.
Loss of precision-Values are grouped, which can obscure
exact data points.
[Link] polygon
drawn By connecting mid point of the class boundary
The total area under the frequency polygon is equal to the area
under the histogram
Useful when comparing two or more frequency distributions
by drawing them on the same diagram
Cumulative frequency
5. The Box-and-Whisker Plot
Advantages of Box and whisker
Visualizing Distribution: Box plots provide a concise
summary of the distribution, including central tendency,
spread, and potential outliers.
Identifying Outliers: Outliers are easily identifiable, helping
researchers spot abnormal values that could indicate errors or
interesting anomalies.
Comparing Distributions: Box plots are very useful when
comparing multiple datasets side by side (e.g., comparing AST
levels in different patient groups).
Skewness and Symmetry: Box plots help identify whether a
dataset is skewed or symmetric, which is important for
choosing appropriate statistical tests.
Drawback of Box and whisker