Better Business Decisions from Data

CHAPTER 6

Descriptive Data

Not Every Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

There is not much that can be done to characterize a sample of descriptive data in comparison with the options available for numerical data. The latter has had the advantages of centuries of development of mathematics. Where possible, and usually by simply counting, descriptive data is rendered numerical. In addition, the frequent use of diagrams provides neat summaries of the data, though there are many ways in which diagrams can mislead.

Diagrammatic Representation

Nominal data consists of numbers that can be placed in categories and totaled, the categories having no numerical relationship to each other. Thus an employer might group the staff according to the mode of transport ...