Comprehensive Tutorial on Graphical Presentation
of Data (Excel)
Line Charts
Explanation: A line chart displays data points connected by straight lines. It’s best for showing
trends over time.
Month Sales
Jan 150
Feb 200
Mar 250
Apr 300
Excel Instructions:
- Enter the dataset in Excel.
- Highlight both columns.
- Go to Insert → Charts → Line Chart.
- Choose '2D Line'.
Tips: Look for upward/downward trends. Use markers to highlight individual points.
Simple Bar Charts (Vertical)
Explanation: Simple bar (or column) charts show data with bars, making it easy to compare
quantities across categories.
Product Quantity
A 30
B 60
C 90
D 120
Excel Instructions:
- Enter the dataset.
- Highlight data.
- Go to Insert → Column/Bar Chart → Clustered Column.
Tips: Use when categories are discrete (products, people, regions). Vertical bars emphasize
differences in size.
Horizontal Bar Charts
Explanation: Horizontal bar charts are similar to vertical bar charts but rotated. Useful when
category names are long.
Product Quantity
A 30
B 60
C 90
D 120
Excel Instructions:
- Highlight dataset.
- Insert → Bar Chart → Clustered Bar.
Tips: Best when category labels are lengthy and easier to read.
Grouped (Clustered) Bar Charts
Explanation: Shows multiple datasets side by side for each category (e.g., quarterly sales).
Product Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
A 10 15 20 25
B 20 25 30 35
C 30 35 40 45
D 40 45 50 55
Excel Instructions:
- Enter dataset.
- Highlight full range.
- Insert → Column Chart → Clustered Column.
Tips: Useful for comparing categories across multiple groups.
Stacked Bar Charts
Explanation: Bars are stacked instead of grouped, showing contribution of each sub-category to
the total.
Product Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
A 10 15 20 25
B 20 25 30 35
C 30 35 40 45
D 40 45 50 55
Excel Instructions:
- Select dataset.
- Insert → Column Chart → Stacked Column.
Tips: Shows part-to-whole contribution but harder to compare sub-category values.
Pie Charts
Explanation: Pie charts display data as proportional slices of a circle, used to show part-to-whole
relationships.
Category Percentage
A 25
B 35
C 20
D 20
Excel Instructions:
- Enter dataset.
- Highlight data.
- Insert → Pie Chart → 2D Pie.
Tips: Ensure total = 100%. Limit to 4–6 categories. Use data labels or percentages.
Histograms
Explanation: Histograms show frequency distribution of data by grouping values into intervals
(bins).
Age
22
25
27
30
32
35
40
42
Excel Instructions:
- Enter data in one column.
- Highlight values.
- Insert → Statistical Charts → Histogram.
Tips: Choose bin width carefully. Useful for showing spread and distribution.
Frequency Polygons
Explanation: Line graph from histogram midpoints; shows frequency distribution smoothly.
Class Interval Frequency
0–10 5
10–20 8
20–30 12
30–40 7
40–50 3
Excel Instructions:
- Enter midpoints (5, 15, 25, 35, 45).
- Enter frequencies.
- Insert → Line Chart.
Tips: Compare multiple distributions by overlaying polygons.
Frequency Curves
Explanation: Smooth curve version of frequency polygon; represents continuous distribution.
Class Interval Frequency
0–10 5
10–20 8
20–30 12
30–40 7
40–50 3
Excel Instructions:
- Create frequency polygon.
- Right-click line → Format Data Series → Smoothed Line.
Tips: Helps visualize normal distribution patterns.
Ogives (Cumulative Frequency Curves)
Explanation: Graph of cumulative frequencies, used to find medians, quartiles, and percentiles.
Class Interval Frequency Cumulative Freq
0–10 5 5
10–20 8 13
20–30 12 25
30–40 7 32
40–50 3 35
Excel Instructions:
- Enter upper-class boundaries (10,20,30,40,50).
- Enter cumulative frequencies.
- Insert → Line Chart.
Tips: Helps locate median and quartiles graphically.
Scatter Diagrams
Explanation: Plots two variables on X and Y axes to check relationships and correlations.
Hours Studied Marks
1 20
2 30
3 50
4 60
5 80
Excel Instructions:
- Enter dataset (X in first column, Y in second).
- Highlight both columns.
- Insert → Scatter (XY) → Scatter with dots.
Tips: Look for correlation. Add trendline for regression analysis.
