How do I read and interpret statistical diagrams?

• Rather than present you with a list of values (raw data), questions may present information using a statistical diagram
  • Such diagrams may or may not be the ones that are already familiar
  • Unfamiliar diagrams will be reasonably  straightforward to read and interpret
    • you won't need any new skills for such diagrams
• Reading and interpreting statistical diagrams requires gathering any required information from a diagram
  • this enables meaningful statistics like the mean, median, mode, range and interquartile range to be calculated
  • from these, conclusions about the data can be made
• Important things to look for in diagrams include
  • a key, and/or shading, that indicate what certain parts of the diagram mean
    • e.g. a dual bar-chart may show year 7 data in solid shading and year 8 data in striped shading
  • information given through the labels on the axes
  • key words on diagrams such as frequency
  • anything unusual or unexpected mentioned in words, whether they come before or after a diagram
  • anomalies (outliers)
• You may also be asked to comment on a given statistical diagram
  • this may be to point out something that could be misleading or incorrect
    • e.g.  uneven gaps in axes values
    • e.g.  a missing key