2 Univariate data visualisation

In practice, there are two ways to visualise data in Excel. These are:

• tabular form
• graphical form.

While presenting data in Excel, it is important to know the features of data. If your data is univariate (that is, the data consists of many observations for only one variable) then you can either use a frequency table or a histogram to present the data and get an idea of its features. In the JC Electrics example, if the analysis is only carried out for ‘Generators’ (therefore only for one variable), this will be seen as a univariate analysis.

However, if your data is bivariate (that is, the data consists of two variables (an independent variable and a dependent variable)) and you need to know the relationship between these two variables, then, for example, you can use either a contingency table or scatter diagram to present the data and get an idea of its structure. You will learn about bivariate data visualisation later in this session.

The next section will briefly explain frequency tables.