9.4 Statistical Charts and Diagrams


2026 Syllabus Objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

  1. Draw and interpret: (a) bar charts; (b) pie charts; (c) pictograms; (d) stem-and-leaf diagrams; (e) simple frequency distributions.
  2. Know that bar charts include: composite (stacked) bar charts and dual (side-by-side) bar charts. Stem-and-leaf diagrams must have data in order, with a key.

What is a bar chart?

A bar chart is a diagram that uses rectangular bars to display data. The height of each bar shows how often something occurs — this is called the frequency (how many times something appears).

Bar charts are used for discrete data — data you can count, like the number of goals scored, shoe sizes, or favourite colours.

Rules for drawing a bar chart:

  • The horizontal axis (bottom) shows the different categories or outcomes.
  • The vertical axis (side) shows the frequency (how many).
  • All bars must have equal width.
  • There must be gaps between bars (this shows the data is discrete/counted, not continuous).
  • Always label both axes and give your chart a title.

Example — Simple Bar Chart:

A class recorded their favourite fruit. The results were:

FruitFrequency
Apple8
Banana5
Orange10
Mango3

To draw this bar chart: draw the frequency axis going up to at least 10, label each bar with the fruit name, and make sure there are gaps between bars. The tallest bar (Orange, height 10) represents the mode — the most common value.


Dual (Side-by-Side) Bar Charts

A dual bar chart compares two sets of data at the same time. Instead of one bar per category, you draw two bars side by side for each category — one for each group.

Key features:

  • Use a key (legend) to show which bar represents which group (e.g. shading or colour).
  • The two bars in each pair sit right next to each other with a small gap between pairs.

Example: A teacher recorded the number of pets owned by Year 7 and Year 8 students:

Number of PetsYear 7Year 8
034
178
254
323

For each "number of pets" value, you draw two bars side by side — one grey for Year 7, one patterned for Year 8. Include a key explaining which is which.

Reading a dual bar chart:

  • To find the mode for one group, look for the tallest bar belonging to that group.
  • To find the total for one group, add up the heights of all bars for that group.

Example question: How many Year 8 students are there in total? Add up all Year 8 bars: 4 + 8 + 4 + 3 = 19 students

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