Final answer:
Qualitative data can be represented graphically through pie charts, which divide a circle into proportional slices, and bar graphs, which use bars to compare values across different categories.
Step-by-step explanation:
Graphical and Numerical Representation of Qualitative Data
When representing qualitative data, the focus is on categorizing and describing attributes or characteristics that are not numerical. Two primary ways to display this type of data graphically are pie charts and bar graphs.
Pie Charts
A pie chart is a circular graph divided into slices or wedges, each showing the proportion of the total that is accounted for by the corresponding category. These are particularly useful for illustrating the composition of something as a whole, where the whole circle represents 100% of the data, and each slice is proportional to the part it represents.
Bar Graphs
A bar graph uses rectangular bars to show the comparison among different categories. The height or length of the bar corresponds to the amount, rate, size, or value it represents, making it easy to compare multiple categories at once. The bars can represent different entities such as countries or years, and the vertical axis may show a numerical count or a percentage.
These graphical methods are parts of descriptive statistics, a branch of statistics that focuses on the summarization and description of features of a collection of data.