We will begin by looking at the given table which shows the estimated populations of males and females by age in the United States in 2012.
U.S. Population by Age and Gender
Ages (Years)
Males
Females
0-14
31 242 542
29 901 556
15-29
33 357 203
31 985 028
30-44
30 667 513
30 759 902
45-59
31 875 279
33 165 976
60-74
19 737 347
22 061 730
75-89
6 999 292
10 028 195
Note that the ages in the table are given in intervals of equal sizes. Additionally, we are given the number of people who are in each particular interval — the frequency of the intervals. This means that the given table is a frequency table. Let's think about two different ways that we can display this data using technology.
Histograms
One common way to display data sets given by frequency tables is using histograms. To create our histograms, let's first write the data in a spreadsheet.
To create a histogram for the male population, let's select the Ages column and Males column. That is, we will select from cell A2 to B8.
Now, on our spreadsheet, let's go to the Insert menu, then to All Charts, and select Histogram. It will display the histogram of the data. However, depending on the spreadsheet version, we may need to change the x-axis to the by category option to see the graph correctly.
Proceeding in the same way, we can display the female data.
Finally, we can bring both histograms together to see the their shapes simultaneously.
Bar Graphs
Considering the given table once more, notice that each interval can be seen as a specific category. This means that we can use a bar graph to display the data. In this case, it will be convenient to have both data sets in one graph. To make our bar graph, we will need to select our whole table — from cell A1 to C8 — in the spreadsheet.
In a similar method as before, on our spreadsheet, let's go to the Insert Menu, then to All Charts, and select Bar Chart. It will automatically display the bar graph of both data sets. We may only need to adjust the titles and axis labels.
Please note that these are only two of the many possible ways to display the data sets.
