UNIT 9

Reporting and interpreting assessment

results for instructional improvement
9.1 Presentation of results to various
stakeholders[graphs and tables]

Importance of presentation on graphs

and tables.
Tables and graphs are visual
representations, used to organise
information to show patterns and
relationships.
 A graph shows information by

representing it as a shape.
 ……..

Graphs and charts are effective visual

tools because they present information
quickly and easily.
 Sometimes, data can be better

understood when presented by a

graph than by a table because they
reveal a trend or comparison.
 Why use graphs to present data?

 are quick and direct,

 highlight the most important facts,
 facilitate understanding of the data,
 can convince readers,
 can be easily remembered
Types of graphs used to convey information,
including:

bar charts, pictographs

pie charts, line charts
 histograms
 Graphs: four guidelines
Guidelines to remember when presenting results on
graphs
1.Define your target audience
Who is your target audience?
◦ What do they know about the issue?
◦ What do they expect to see?
◦ What do they want to know?
◦ How will they use the information?
 2.Determine the message(s) to be
transmitted

What do the data show?

◦ Is there more than one main
message?
◦ What aspect of the message(s)
should be highlighted?
◦ Can all the messages be displayed
in the same graph or chart?
 3.Use appropriate terms to describe
your graph


Consider the following appropriate terms when

labelling the graph or describing features of it in
accompanying text:
 Use the following terms...
 share of, percent of the, smallest, the majority of
 ranking, larger than, smaller than, equal to

 change, rise, growth, increase, decrease, decline,

fluctuation etc
4.Use the most appropriate graph

◦ Pie chart (description of

components)
◦ Bar chart (comparison of items and
relationships, time series, frequency
distribution)
◦ Line chart (time series and
frequency distribution)
◦ Scatterplot (analysis of
relationships)
 Constructing Graphs
 Title:
A title is essential and is best
placed at the top.

 Scales:horizontal scale usually

measures the time unit where a graph
is over a period of time, and the
vertical scale measures the variable
under consideration. Where possible
the vertical scale should begin at zero.
 ……
 both axes should be marked and
named with scales and units
 a legend may be necessary,

particularly for detailed graphs

with shading and/or colouring;
 1.Vertical bar charts


Used to compare different categorical
or discrete variables, such as age
groups, classes, schools, etc.
 They are also very useful for time

series data. The space for labels on

the x-axis is small, but ideal for
years, minutes, hours or months
 2.Grouped bar charts

 Used to compare sets of data about

the same places or items. It gives two
or more pieces of information for
each item on the x-axis instead of
just one .
 This allows direct comparisons on

the same chart by age group, gender

or anything else you wish to
compare.
…
3.Horizontal bar charts
 4.Pictograph

 Uses picture symbols to illustrate

statistical information. It is often more
difficult to visualize data with a
pictograph. So they should be used
carefully to avoid misrepresenting
data either accidentally or
deliberately.
 5.Pie chart
 A pie chart/circle chart, is a way of
displaying the different values of a
given variable (e.g. percentage
distribution).
 Divided into a series of segments.

Each segment represents a particular

category.
 Pie chart usually shows the

component parts of a whole.

 6. Line chart

 Are more popular than all other graphs

combined because their visual
characteristics reveal data trends clearly
and these charts are easy to create.
 Line charts compare two variables: along

the x-axis (horizontal) and the other along

the y-axis (vertical). The y-axis indicates
quantity (e.g. dollars, litres) or percentage,
while the horizontal x-axis often measures
units of time.
 In summary, line charts:

 show specific values of data well,

 reveal trends and relationships

between data,
 compare trends in different groups.
 7.Histogram
 Used to summarize discrete or
continuous data that are measured on
an interval scale.
 Useful when dealing with large data sets.
 It can help detect any unusual

observations (outliers) or any gaps in the

data.
 Has an appearance similar to a vertical

bar chart, but no gaps between the bars

and will have bars of equal width
 Differences between bar chart and Histogram

Comparison terms Bar chart Histogram

Usage To compare different To display the
categories of data. distribution of a variable.

Type of variable Categorical variables Numeric variables

Rendering Each data point is The data points are
rendered as a separate grouped and rendered
bar. based on the bin value.
The entire range of data
values is divided into a
series of non-
overlapping intervals.
Space between bars Can have space. No space.
Reordering bars Can be reordered. Cannot be reordered.
 8.Tables

 Tables present additional information

which cannot be shown in general text
 Tables are usually only used to present a

few values as they become difficult to

comprehend if they involve too many
numbers.

Tables should have clear headings.

 9.2 Interpretation of
assessment results by various
stakeholders
Measure of central tendency
 Measures of central tendency
• is defined as the number used to
represent the centre or middle of a
set of data values. It is also referred to
as measures of centre or central
location).
Measures of central tendency are
the:
• mean,
• median,
• and mode.
 1.Mean

 The sum of the value of each observation in a

dataset divided by the number of observations.
This is also known as the arithmetic average.
 Looking at the retirement age distribution below:
 54, 54, 54, 55, 56, 57, 57, 58, 58, 60, 60
 The mean is calculated by adding together all the

values
(54+54+54+55+56+57+57+58+58+60+60 =
623) and dividing by the number of observations
(11) which equals 56.6 years.
 …….
 Advantage of the mean
 The mean can be used for both continuous

and discrete numeric data.

 Limitations of the mean
 The mean cannot be calculated for

categorical data, as the values cannot be

summed.
 As the mean includes every value in the

distribution the mean is influenced by

outliers.
 2.Median

 The middle value in distribution when the values

are arranged in ascending or descending order.
 The median divides the distribution in half (there

are 50% of observations on either side of the

median value).
 In a distribution with an odd number of

observations, the median value is the middle value.

 ……..
 Looking at the retirement age distribution (which
has 11 observations), the median is the middle
value, which is 57 years:
 54, 54, 54, 55, 56, 57, 57, 58, 58, 60, 60
 When the distribution has an even number of

observations, the median value is the mean of the

two middle values. In the following distribution,
the two middle values are 56 and 57, therefore the
median equals 56.5 years:
 52, 54, 54, 54, 55, 56, 57, 57, 58, 58, 60, 60
 Advantage of the median

 The median is less affected by

outliers.
 Limitation of the median
 The median cannot be identified
for categorical nominal data, as it
cannot be logically ordered
 3.Mode
 The mode is the most commonly
occurring value in a distribution.
 Sometimes the dataset may contain

multiple modes and in some cases, it

does not contain any mode at all.
 Advantage of the mode

 The mode has an advantage over the median and

the mean as it can be found for both numerical and
categorical (non-numerical) data.
Example:
13 40 46 47 49 50 50 53 58 59
 If there is not a value which appears mor

often than another, then there is no mode.

 ….
 Limitations of the mode
 In some distributions, the mode may
not reflect the centre of the
distribution very well.
 It is also possible for there to be more

than one , (bi-modal, or multi-

modal),this can limit the ability of the
mode in describing the centre or
typical value.
Range
 Thedifference between the greatest
and the least values in a data set.
Daily High Temperatures (for any given date) Over the Last Decade
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
59 50 49 13 40 46 50 53 58 47

Range =59° - 13° = 46°

 Outliers

 Sometimes there are extreme

values that are separated from
the rest of the data. These
extreme values are called outliers.
Outliers affect the mean.
 Outliers……

Daily High Temperatures (for any given date) Over the Last
Decade
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
59 50 49 13 40 46 50 53 58 47

The daily high temperature in 1996 is

the outlier. Mean
59+50+49+13+40+46+50+53+58+57
=494
465÷10=46.5
Because outliers can affect the mean,
the median may be better measures
of central tendency. You might
consider the median to best
represent the expected temperature.
Median
13 40 46 47 49 50 50 53 58 59
49+50=99
99÷2=49.5
Sometimes the mode is more
helpful when analyzing data. If
you were trying to determine what
clothes to wear for a day trip, you
might base your decision on the
mode temperature because the
mode temperature is the
temperature which occurred most
often.
13° 40° 46° 47° 49° 50° 50° 53° 58°
59°
Dropping the outlier may help when
determining the mean.

59+50+49+13+40+46+50+53+58+57=494
465÷10=46.5°

40+46+47+49+50+50+53+58+59=452
452÷9=50.2°

When the 13° outlier is dropped, the

average daily temperature increases by
more than 4° to 50.2°, which is closer
to both the median of 49.5° and the
mode of 50°.
 You Try It!
Jessica’s test scores in Algebra for
the first semester are 93, 79, 88,
77, 92, 88, 80, 34, 84, 88.
Calculate the range, mean, median,
and mode. Then make and explain
a prediction for next semester’s
test scores.
 ….
 Range:59
 Mean 80.3
 Median :86
 Mode :88

Predictions will vary: Jessica will

score an estimated average of 85 on
her tests. This is determined by
removing the outlying score of 34 and
recalculated the mean.
 Levels of Measurement
 We define measurement as the
assignment of symbols or numerals
to objects or events according to
some rules. Four measurement
scales, are:
nominal,
 ordinal,
 interval,
 and ratio.
 1. Nominal Scale
 The nominal scale categorizes variables according
to qualitative labels (or names).
 These labels and groupings don’t have any order

or hierarchy to them, nor do they convey any

numerical value.
 In this level, we can say that one object is

different from another, but the amount of

difference between them cannot be determined
 For example, the variable “hair color” could be

measured on a nominal scale according to the

following categories: blonde hair, brown hair,
grey hair, and so on
Examples of nominal data

 Eye color (e.g. blue, brown, green)

 Nationality (e.g. German,

Cameroonian, Lebanese)
 Employment status (e.g. unemployed,

part-time, retired)
 Type of smartphone owned (e.g.

iPhone, Samsung, Google Pixel)

 2. Ordinal Scale
 Also categorizes variables into
labelled groups, and these categories
have an order or hierarchy to them.
 For example, “income variable ” on an

ordinal scale can be as follows: low

income, medium income, high
income.
 Another example could be level of

education, classified as follows: high

school, master’s degree, doctorate.
Examples of ordinal data include

 Academic grades (A, B, C, and so on)

 Happiness on a scale of 1-10
 Satisfaction (extremely satisfied, quite

satisfied, slightly dissatisfied,

extremely dissatisfied)
 Seniority level at work (junior, mid-

level, senior
 3.Interval Scale

Is a numerical scale which labels and orders

variables, with a known, evenly spaced
interval between each of the values.
An example is temperature, where the
difference between 10 and 20 degrees is
exactly the same as the difference between,
say, 50 and 60 degrees.
Example Maria got 50 in a Math examination
while Martha got 40. We can say that Maria
got higher than Martha by 10 points.
 Examples of interval data

 Some examples of interval data

include:
 Temperature in degrees Celsius
 Income categorized as ranges ($30-

39k, $40-49k, $50-59k, and so on

 4. Ratio Scale

 The ratio scale is exactly the same as

the interval scale, but with a “true
zero
 For example, Mrs. Reyes weighs 50

kg, while her daughter weighs 25 kg.

Reyes is twice as heavy as her
daughter. Thus, weight is an example
of data measured in the ratio scale.
 Examples of ratio data

 Ratio variables can be discrete/expressed

in finite, countable units) or continuous
(potentially taking on infinite values).
 Here are some examples of ratio data:
 Weight in grams (continuous).
 Number of employees at a company

(discrete).
 Speed in miles per hour (continuous)
 Income in dollars (continuous).
 Sales made in one month (discrete)