What type of graph should I use?

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af7408500a834dfe8d9d31c4117df9a7
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What type of graph should I use?

Post by af7408500a834dfe8d9d31c4117df9a7 »

My research question: What is the effect of age (ranging from 10-20, 35-45 and 60-70 years) on the absolute threshold of hearing of the female Homo sapien?

I have collected my data and now want to present it on a graph. What type of graph should I use? An audiogram? Or the one included in this experiment: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... background

My procedure is identical to the one on the link above, but I am not entirely sure about how to graph my data. What kind of graph has been used in the linked experiment. I am confused about how to interpret it so was hoping to get some help with this.

Really appreciate your time! Thanks so much in advance.
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Re: What type of graph should I use?

Post by MadelineB »

Hello and welcome to Science Buddies,

This is a fascinating science project and congratulations on collecting the data for different age groups.

The best graph will depend on how much data you recorded for each person. If you recorded the individual threshold of hearing as a function of frequency for each person in your study, then one way to graph the data would be to superimpose each person's threshold for each frequency on a graph that looks like Figure A in the Introduction to the project.

If you had several people in each age group, you could calculate the median threshold at each frequency for each age group. I suggest that you use the median rather than the mean (average) since the median is not as influenced by unusually large or small values. You could use a different color and/or symbol for each of the age groups so that it is easy for the viewer (judge!) to see the effect of age on the shape of the curve.

It sounds like you might have collected a lot of data! You might want to use a computer application to make your plots. You might look at the free application called "Tableau Public" (url: https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/). You can use a spreadsheet program like Excel to record your observations and import that sheet into Tableau Public.

Let us know if any of these suggestions are helpful and be sure to post again if you have more questions!
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