Charting Assignment

Purpose: To help you utilize information from the Internet and present it effectively in chart form using Excel.

Assignment: Use the Internet to find information to complete these projects. For each chart, attach a print screen from the site where you obtained your information, making sure that the print screen shows the url of the site. Place this print screen into the excel workbook as an image, placing it on the same worksheet that contains your data.

Be sure to include all required information. Your charts should have titles, labels for the axes, and legends where appropriate. Projects which include modifications of plot and chart areas and alterations of the series will receive higher grades than charts that use the default values.

Submit your assignment via Blackboard. No late assignments are accepted.

Project One - Line Chart. Line charts plot the changes in a specific item or behavior over time. The time is plotted on the X-axis and the values on the Y-axis. They allow the reader to follow trends and to identify when changes have taken place. Locate some information on the Internet that would allow you to construct a line chart. The line chart should show the changes in behavior over the course of time. You must have at least 10 values for the X-axis. Some examples are the changes in the percentages of Americans who are obese during the past decade, the death rate over the last 10 years due to cornoary heart disease, an individual's progress in a fitness program, changes in the average teacher's salary, the changes in a team's scoring or tracking an individual's scoring over the course of the season, etc. To receive the maximum value, you must remove the gridlines from the chart.

Project Two - Column Chart. Column charts allow for comparisons between groups. Group A is compared to Group B, etc. on specific values. Locate information on the Internet that would allow you to construct a column chart. You must have at least 4 values on which the two or more groups are compared. Some examples are the number of males and females who participate in specific sports, a comparison of hypertension in different age groups, the number of live versus stillborn births in different countries, HIV/AIDS infection rates in different population groups, the graduation rates of athletes, etc. To receive maximum value, you must use icons for the data series and stack the series appropriately.

Project Three - Stacked Column Chart. Stacked column charts portray the contribution of one part to the whole or the total. Locate information on the Internet that will allow you to contruct a stacked column chart. You must have at least 5 items for the chart. Some examples are the number of concussions versus the total number of injuries in football, the number of points one player scores versus the total number of points scored by a team, the number of HIV/AIDS cases in Africa versus the total number of HIV/AIDS cases worldwide, etc. To receive maximum value, you must incorporate a transparent image within the plot area (adjust transparency so that the image is visible and clear).

Project Four - Pie Chart. Pie charts are useful for showing how various parts contribute to the whole. Locate information on the Internet that will allow you to create a pie chart. Some examples are the percentage of the average American diet from fats, carbohydrates, and protein; the percentage of suicides in different age groups; the percentages of different types of cancers, etc. To receive maximum value, you must incorporate an image or use a background texture within the chart area.

Project Five- Doughnut or Area Chart. Select one of these types of charts for your fifth project. A doughnut chart is similar to a pie chart. It shows the contribution of parts to a whole, but contains more than one data series. An area chart is similar to a line chart, displaying changes over a period of time. It shows the magniture of change as well as how the parts relate to the whole. To receive maximum value, you must change the default chart in some specific way.

Resources

• Microsoft Office - Different Chart Types - offers examples of different chart types
• Chart Types and Their Uses - discusses when to use different types of charts
• Data Sources
  • World Health Organization
  • Healthy People 2010
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • National Center for Health Statistics
  • National Center for Educational Statistics
  • Kaiser Family Foundation
  • Google topics using the Advanced Search, selecting excel as the file format

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