+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 4 of 4

Normal Distribution?

  1. #1
    Anthony Slater
    Guest

    Normal Distribution?

    I have data consisting of 6000 numbers such as: -

    1.78
    4.56
    2.26
    8.37
    8.62
    4.98
    0.00
    1.78

    The average of my data is 3.26

    How do I go about plotting the distribution of the data on a chart?

    ie 120 number 4.56's, 50 number 2.26's, 600 number 8.37's


    Any ideas?

    TIA

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-01-2004
    Location
    Kent, UK
    Posts
    74
    A couple of thoughts:

    1) use =Frequency(data array, bins array). This will give you the number of results that lie within defined intervals e.g number of results between 0.00-0.05, 0.05-0.10, ........9.90-9.95 etc. You can set the width of the intervals as close or wide as you like - so 0.01 will give you the number of occurences of each value in your data table but potentially with lots of zeros where values don't occur.

    2 Pivot table. Set up a pivot table using the column of data. In the layout use the column of numbers as the row headings and "count of" the numbers for the data field. This will give the total occurences of each number without any gaps.

  3. #3
    Jerry W. Lewis
    Guest

    Re: Normal Distribution?

    What you are wanting is not clear.

    Some possibilities include
    - In a separate locatation list the unique values in one column and in a
    second column use COUNTIF() to determine that there are 120 4.56's etc.
    then the second column (y) vs. the first (x) as an "XY (Scatter)" chart
    - Use the Analysis ToolPak to plot a histogram of the data
    - Calculate the STDEV() of the data and plot NORMDIST(x,Ave,SD,FALSE)
    vs. a column of hypothetical x values spanning the range

    Also, if this data is supposed to follow the normal distribution, then
    the sample data should be roughly symmetrical around and peaked at the
    average. The three reported values (50x2.26, 120x4.56, 600x8.37) do not
    sound very consistent with normality (what does the rest of the data set
    look like?)

    Jerry

    Anthony Slater wrote:

    > I have data consisting of 6000 numbers such as: -
    >
    > 1.78
    > 4.56
    > 2.26
    > 8.37
    > 8.62
    > 4.98
    > 0.00
    > 1.78
    >
    > The average of my data is 3.26
    >
    > How do I go about plotting the distribution of the data on a chart?
    >
    > ie 120 number 4.56's, 50 number 2.26's, 600 number 8.37's
    >
    >
    > Any ideas?
    >
    > TIA



  4. #4
    Michael R Middleton
    Guest

    Re: Normal Distribution?

    Anthony -

    To obtain a frequency distribution and column chart, you could use Excel's
    Histogram tool. Your data may or may not follow the shape of a normal curve.

    For a slightly better histogram, try my free add-in from the "Better
    Histogram" page at www.treeplan.com.

    - Mike www.mikemiddleton.com

    +++++++++++++++++++++++

    "Anthony Slater" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    >I have data consisting of 6000 numbers such as: -
    > 1.78
    > 4.56
    > 2.26
    > 8.37
    > 8.62
    > 4.98
    > 0.00
    > 1.78
    > The average of my data is 3.26
    > How do I go about plotting the distribution of the data on a chart?
    > ie 120 number 4.56's, 50 number 2.26's, 600 number 8.37's
    > Any ideas?
    > TIA




+ Reply to Thread

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0 RC 1