Question

Is there an easy way to tell what graph I should use for questions like this?
The following is a list of product manufacturing levels for the 50 states in 2004 ($ millions):

76, 5, 42, 55, 388, 34, 45, 17, 84, 131, 5, 17, 210, 184, 79, 56, 97, 124, 14, 36, 77, 220, 88, 44, 103, 6, 34, 10, 15, 94, 17, 147, 164, 7, 259, 46, 55, 190, 11, 82, 12, 126, 386, 30, 10, 88, 78, 21, 137, 5

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Geographic Area Statistics: 2004. Washington, D.C. 2006.

Select what you consider to be the most appropriate form for displaying the data. Develop and appropriately label a graph. .

Answer 1

Well, you have

a) one variable per entity, and they are

b) discrete rather than continuous, and

c) within a reasonable range; the largest is no more than 80 times as big as the smallest,

so you won't go wrong with a simple linear graph - column or bar chart.

If you had two variables, like latitude vs. GDP, you might be looking at a scatter graph,

If the variables were continuous, or measurements on a continuum, like temperature against time, you'd be looking at a continuous line

If some of the numbers were much much bigger than others, like the mass of a molecule vs. an elephant vs. a planet, you would have to go to logarithmic scales to be able to see the whole range.