The Use of Graphs in Presenting Information - Term Paper Example

The idea gives the rationale for the use of graphs. The paper points to two uses of graphs that are reflected in one of the business periodicals and their effectiveness. First, an article from the Wall Street Journal dated 1st April that was written by Prince Marcelo reflected on the amount of gas and oil that comes from fracking in the US. The graph points to the trend of oil fracking as compared to the total oil and gas production from 2005 to 2015. Prince, (2015) makes use of a line graph to present the information that clearly shows that energy production from oil and gases has been increasing annually, the same as the energy from fracking. 

The above graph is an effective tool in revealing the current issue in the energy sector regarding the use of fracking technology. The black shaded area depicts the fracking amounts while the red one shows the total amounts of oil and gas production in the US. Fracking has contributed to a larger percentage of both gas and oil production as opposed to the other sources of these two energy platforms. Additionally, the graph depicts the amounts (in estimate) of oil and gas every year, as well as, the periods that the trends revealed a sharp decrease or increase. Nevertheless, the difference or the ratio of fracking to the total amounts can be easily calculated from the graph.

Lastly, the mean or averages of the fracking amounts can be easily calculated; therefore, the graph shows the descriptive statistics for the data that can be highlighted without any struggle.

Another graph reflects the US quarterly GDP growth from 2012 to 2016. The article was posted by the Fed on 1st May 2015 and forecasted the GDP growth rate of the US economy from 2012 to 2016. It shows the past GDP growth rates from 2012 and the current rates, and from these rates, Fed can forecast the growth rates for the last quarter of 2015 and 2016. Therefore, the bar graph is an effective tool that can be used in forecasting data for future use. This data is relevant to different cohorts of the economy ranging from actuaries to policymakers. The mean GDP of Qatar from 2003 to 2014 is $ 103.7 billion, with a standard deviation of $ 67.021, and a median of $97.800 billion. The minimum GDP was $ 23.5 and a maximum of 202.5 with no extreme values. The GDP has been increasing gradually over the period. However, it decreased between 2008 and 2009. It can be forecasted that it will be higher than $ 202.5 billion in the following years.    Question 3: Response to 8.67 & 8.68 Part 8.67 The probability that the project takes more than 60 days will be given as follows; Assume that the distribution takes a normal curve and that the probability can be measured using the Z score and the standard deviations. From the data given, the mean number of days can be given as; µ = 18 + 12 + 27 + 8= 65 days and the standard deviation can be given as ð2 = 82 + 52 + 62 + 22 = 129 Therefore, the ð = (129) ½ = 11.35 Mean = 65, X= 60, SD = 11.35  Measurement value = x = 60 Formula for Z – value = X - µ / ð = 60 – 65 / 11.35 = - 0.4405 From the normal distribution, table find the P Probability P(X > 60) = 0.65957 Part 8.68 The Mean and variance of the distribution are given as 145 minutes and 31 minutes respectively, to find the probability that it takes less than 2.5 hours to overhaul the machine. µ = 145, ð = 31 and X = 2.5 hours (150 minutes) Assuming a normal distribution then, find the Z score and the associated probability from the normal distribution tables;  Find Z value = X – µ / ð  Z value = 150 – 145 / 31= 0.1612 P (X< 150) = 0.871936  Therefore, the probability that the exercise takes less than 2.5 hours is given as 0.871936.    Read More