BAR CHARTS

Usually the frequency command has a column, labeled CUM PERCENT, which is also valuable . To transform your frequency table into a picture, you merely add a slash and the word BARCHART to your FREQUENCIES command.

When you execute this command, the computer produces a type of display that is called a bar chart because each line in the frequency table is turned into a bar. The length of the bar depends on the number of cases. (The actual frequency is given beside the bar.) At a glance, you can tell how often each of the responses was selected. You can also see whether one of the responses was an overwhelming favorite, and which responses are about equally likely.

Since computer screens and printers have a limited ability to show detail, responses that have similar frequencies may end up with bars of equal length even though the actual frequency counts are slightly different. This does not really matter. The point of a bar chart is to provide a visual summary of the data, and such minor distortions do not change the overall impression . If you want precision, look at the numbers , not the chart.