Chapter 16

Exploring,
Displaying, and
Examining Data

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All

Rights Reserved.

16-2

Learning Objectives
Understand . . .
That exploratory data analysis techniques
provide insights and data diagnostics by
emphasizing visual representations of the data.
How cross-tabulation is used to examine
relationships involving categorical variables,
serves as a framework for later statistical testing,
and makes an efficient tool for data visualization
and later decision-making.

16-3

PulsePoint: Research Revelation

67

The percent of college students who

see nothing unethical about swapping
or downloading digital copyrighted
files (software, music, movies) without
paying for them.

16-4

Research Values the Unexpected

It is precisely because the unexpected jolts us

out of our preconceived notions, our
assumptions, our certainties, that it is such a
fertile source of innovation.
Peter Drucker, author
Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Researcher Skill Improves Data

Discovery
DDW is a global player
in research services. As
this ad proclaims, you
can push data into a
template and get the job
done, but you are
unlikely to make
discoveries using that
process.

16-5

16-6

Exploratory Data Analysis

Exploratory

Confirmatory

Data Exploration, Examination,

and Analysis in the Research Process

16-7

16-8

Frequency of Ad Recall

Value Label

Value

Frequency

Percent

Valid
Percent

Cumulative
Percent

16-9

Bar Chart

16-10

Pie Chart

16-11

Frequency Table

16-12

Histogram

16-13

Stem-and-Leaf Display

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

455666788889
12466799
02235678
02268
24
018
3
1
06
3
36
3
6
8

16-14

Pareto Diagram

16-15

Boxplot Components

16-16

Diagnostics with Boxplots

16-17

Boxplot Comparison

16-18

Mapping

16-19

Geograph: Digital Camera Ownership

16-20

SPSS Cross-Tabulation

16-21

Percentages in Cross-Tabulation

16-22

Guidelines for Using Percentages

Averaging
Averaging percentages
percentages
Use
Use of
of too
too large
large percentages
percentages
Using
Using too
too small
small aa base
base
Percentage
Percentage decreases
decreases can
can
never
never exceed
exceed 100%
100%

Cross-Tabulation
with Control and Nested Variables

16-23

16-24

Automatic Interaction Detection

(AID)

16-25

Exploratory Data Analysis

This Booth Research

Services ad suggests that
the researchers role is to
make sense of data
displays.
Great data exploration and
analysis delivers insight
from data.

16-26

Key Terms
Automatic interaction
detection (AID)
Boxplot
Cell
Confirmatory data
analysis
Contingency table
Control variable
Cross-tabulation
Exploratory data
analysis (EDA)

Five-number summary
Frequency table
Histogram
Interquartile range (IQR)
Marginals
Nonresistant statistics
Outliers
Pareto diagram
Resistant statistics
Stem-and-leaf display

1-27

Working with
Data Tables

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Copyright 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All

Rights Reserved.

16-28

Original Data Table

Our grateful appreciation to eMarketer for the use of their table.

16-29

Arranged by Spending

16-30

Arranged by No. of Purchases

16-31

Arranged by Avg. Transaction, Highest

16-32

Arranged by Avg. Transaction, Lowest