You are here:
- Home »
- Using evidence for learning »
- Working with data »
- Creating your own simple graphs
Creating your own simple graphs
Graphs (also called charts) play an important role in data analysis. A graphic representation can make the relationship between sets of data much easier to understand. Graphs are commonly used in education to represent relationships between achievement results for different groups (for example: cohorts, classes, gender or ethnicity groups) or to show progress over time.
With a set of accurate data you can create your own graphs using spreadsheet software. Common software applications are Excel for PC and Numbers for Apple.
First, you must ensure that the data is in the correct format. (See the page on Cleaning, Sorting and Merging Data). Then decide what you want to show on a graph.
To learn how to create simple bar and line graphs in Excel, view this video tutorial: Creating a simple graph using Excel.
You can download the data sheet below as an Excel spreadsheet to practise making graphs.
e-asTTle converted tabular report
(Excel 27 KB)
Related concepts
Types of data
It is important to be aware of the types of data that are available so that the appropriate analytic techniques are used, and inappropriate ones are avoided.
Commonly used graphs
Examples of commonly used graphs, with advice on how to read and interpret them, and goals you could set using them.