For the two calculations, if positive, the values are increasing; if negative, the values are decreasing; and if zero, there is no change or difference.
Using the statistics included in the graph of men’s and women’s earnings, both the absolute and percentage difference can be calculated. Estimating from this graph, for example, the absolute difference, on average, between women’s gymnasts as compared to men’s gymnasts is about $19,000 ($21,000 – $2,000) and the percentage difference, on average, is about 950 percent (($21,000 – $2,000)/$2,000). Wow! Women gymnasts, on average, make a lot more than men gymnasts.
The graph for “What’s Going On in This Graph?” was selected in partnership with Sharon Hessney. Ms. Hessney wrote the “reveal” and Stat Nuggets with Roxy Peck, a professor emerita of statistics at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and moderates online with Sammy Gutierrez, a math, statistics and financial literacy teacher in Ruth Batson Academy in Boston.
More?
• See all graphs in this series or collections of 75 of our favorite graphs, 28 graphs that teach about inequality and 24 graphs about climate change.
• View our archives that link to all past releases, organized by topic, graph type and Stat Nugget.
• Learn more about the notice and wonder teaching strategy from this 5-minute video and how and why other teachers are using this strategy from our on-demand webinar.
• Sign up for our free weekly Learning Network newsletter so you never miss a graph. Graphs are always released by the Friday before the Wednesday live moderation to give teachers time to plan ahead.
• Go to the American Statistical Association K-12 website, which includes teacher statistics resources, Census in the Schools student-generated data, professional development opportunities, and more.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
