Histograms

To make a histogram, choose the histogram button in the ribbon Then drag the variable you wish to plot into the resulting window. Alternatively, select one or more variables first and then choose the Plot > Histograms command.

Data Desk will open a new window for each selected variable holding its histogram. Select any bars or range of bars with the knife or pointer tool to select all the cases displayed in those bars (and have them highlight in all other displays and editing windows.)

Cases selected in other ways or windows will form a “sub- histogram” on top of existing histograms displaying the selected cases on the same scale as the larger histogram.

The Compute Bar Counts command in the histogram’s HyperView menu creates three HotResult variables and places them in a folder called Derived, which is located inside the File cabinet. The Levels variable contains the values at the left edge of each bar, the Count variable contains the number of cases assigned to each bin, and the CumulativeCounts variable contains the number of cases assigned to each bin plus the cases for all of the bins to the left of it. These HotResult variables update automatically in response to changes in the histogram. Thus, if the data underlying the histogram change or you change the scale of the histogram, the values in the HotResult variables update, and any analyses built using the HotResult variables offer to update to reflect these changes.