User Guide

567
Overview of the
Chart Facility
Normal Curve and Bin Options
If you are creating a population pyramid and the Show Distribution over variable is a
scale variable, you can choose to display a normal curve or change the way cases
are binned i
nthechart:
 Display no
rmal curve.
Superimpose over each half of the population pyramid a
normal curve with the same mean and standard deviation as the data.
 Anchor First B in. Specify the starting value of the first bin. This number must be
equal to or less than the lowest value in the data set. By default, the first bin will
include th
e lowest data value. The anchor is set so that bin boundaries are at good
values. You can change the default so the first bin includes values that are not in
the data set. For example, you might want the values of 0-5 included even though
the lowest
value in the data set is 6.
 Bin Sizes
.
Change the size of the bins. You can either specify the number of bins
or the width of each bin. The width also affects the number of bins. For example,
if the axis range is 0-100 and you specify the width as 5, there will be 20 bins.
The great
er the number of bins, the more accurate the histogram in each half of
the population pyramid is. However, more bins makes the histogram too detailed
because the purpose of the histogram is to summarize the data. You should
choose a
value that results in a histogram that accurately summarizes the data.
Plot Shape
If you are creating a dot plot, you can also change the shape of the dot plot.
Chart Templates
You can apply many of the attributes and text elements from one chart to another.
This allows you to modify one chart, save that chart as a template, and then use the
templa
tetocreateanumberofothersimilarcharts.
To use a template when creating a chart, select
Use chart specifications from (in
the Template group in the chart definition dialog box) and click File. This opens a
standa
rd file selection dialog box.