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>KnowledgeCenter>Toolbox>Histogram

Histogram
Description
Histogramsaregraphsofadistributionofdatadesignedtoshowcentering,dispersion(spread),andshape(relative
frequency)ofthedata.Histogramscanprovideavisualdisplayoflargeamountsofdatathataredifficulttounderstandinatabular,or
spreadsheetform.
Theyareusedtounderstandhowtheoutputofaprocessrelatestocustomerexpectations(targetsandspecifications),andhelpanswerthe
question:"Istheprocesscapableofmeetingcustomerrequirements?"

Example
Tounderstandtheapplicationofhistograms,considerasimpleexample:heightdatawerecollectedfromatrainingclassof50individuals,as
shownonthefollowingtable:

Thereareonly50measurements,butitisdifficulttodrawspecificconclusionsaboutthedatawithoutfurtheranalysis.AHistogramcanbe
constructedtoprovidemoreusableinformation:

TheHistogramgraphgivesaquickvisualsummaryofthedata.Itiseasytoseethattheaverageheightisaround69inches,withfewpeople
shorterthan66inches,andfewastallas72inches.Thefrequencydistributiontellsusalotaboutprobability.
Ifthissamplewasrepresentativeoftheoverallpopulationofemployees(randomlydrawn),andifthesampleislargeenough,wecould
concludethattheprobabilityoffindingemployeeswhoareover73inchesorunder65inchesislow.
Theshapeofthisdistribution,whichiscommonbothinnatureandindustrialsettingsisa"NormalDistribution",whichlookslikeabellshaped
curve.Thehistogrambelowisoverlaidwithanormalcurve.

Thereareotherdistributionshapesthatyoumayencounter:

HowtoStart
Thefirststepinconstructingahistogramistodecidehowtheprocessshouldbemeasuredwhatdatashouldbecollected.Thedatamustbe
VariableData,orthatwhichismeasuredonacontinuousscale,suchas:volume,size,weight,time,temperature.

MoreSteamReminder:Makesurethemeasurementmethodhasbeenanalyzedandhasan
acceptablelevelofmeasurementerror.ForhelponthissubjectseeMeasurementSystem
AnalysisintheToolbox.

Next,gatherthedata.Asaruleofthumb,over50datapointsshouldbecollectedinordertoseemeaningfulpatterns.Youcanusehistorical
informationtoestablishabaseline(ifthemeasurementmethodwasexactlythesame),andyoumaywishtocomparesamplesdrawnfrom
differentshiftsortimeperiods.
Nowthatyouhavegatheredthedata,itshouldbeputintoatabularform,suchasaspreadsheet.Youcanthenconstructahistogramby
severalmethods.Thepreferablemethodistouseastatisticalsoftwarepackage.Virtuallyallofthemwillacceptdatacopiedfroma
spreadsheet.
Youcanalsousethechartingfunctionofyourspreadsheetprogram,butyoumayneedtoorganizethedataandcalculatethecharting
intervals.Ifyouchoosethisroute,usethefollowingsequence:
1. Countthenumberofdatapoints(50inourheightexample).
2. Determinetherangeofthesamplethedifferencebetweenthehighestandlowestvalues(73.165,or8.1inchesinourheightexample.
3. Determinethenumberofclassintervals.
Youcanuseeitheroftwomethodsasgeneralguidelinesindeterminingthenumberofintervals:
A.Usetenintervalsasaruleofthumb.
B.Calculatethesquarerootofthenumberofdatapointsandroundtothenearestwholenumber.Inthecaseofourheight
example,thesquarerootof50is7.07,or7whenrounded.
Youmaywishtoexperimentwithdifferentintervalnumbers.Iftherearetoomany,thedistributionwillspreadout,andthe
histogramwilllookflat.Likewise,iftherearetoofewintervals,thedistributioncanlookartificiallytight.
4. Determinetheintervalclasswidthbyoneoftwomethods:
A.Width=Range/#Intervals=8.1/10=0.81
B.DividetheStandardDeviationbythree.Inthiscase,theheightdatahasaStandardDeviationof1.85,whichyieldsaclass
intervalsizeof0.62inches,andthereforeatotalof14classintervals(Rangeof8.1dividedby0.62,roundedup).Thisisslightly
moreclassintervalsthanourruleofthumbindicated.
5. Developatableorspreadsheetwithrelativefrequenciesforeachinterval,whichbecomesatabularhistogram:

Oncethehistogramisdeveloped,youcananalyzethedatawithregardtocustomerexpectations(specifications).Youcanseefromthe
followinggraphicthatthefirsthistogramofaprocesssamplefallswithinthespecifications,whilethesecondhasaportionofthehistogram
outsideofthespecifications.

Thesecondhistogramhastoomuchdispersion,orvariability,tomeetcustomerexpectations.Theindicationisthatactionmustbetakento
maketheoutputmoreconsistent,orsomenumberofdefectswillbeproduced.
AmoreadvancedformofthisanalysisistheCpmetric,whichiscoveredintheProcessCapabilitysectionoftheStatisticalProcessControl
modulewithintheToolbox.

Afterassessingdispersion,orprocessspread,youcanalsoanalyzeprocesscentering.Aprocessoutputdistributionthatisnarrowenoughto
fallbetweentheupperandlowerspecificationsmustalsobecenteredinordertodoso.Oftentimesitismucheasiertocenteraprocessthan
toreduceitsspread,ordispersion.
Centeringmaybeafunctionofmachineortoolsettings,whereasthereductionofvariabilitymayrequiremultipleactionstoaddressmultiple
rootcauses.

Thedegreetowhichastableprocessisbothcentered,andwithinspecifications,isreflectedbyametriccalledCpk,whichisalsocoveredin
theStatisticalProcessControlmoduleoftheToolbox.AssessmentofCpkrequiresthecollectionofdataovertimetodemonstratestatistical
control,orstability.

Summary
Thehistogramtoolisacommontoolforunderstandingdataandthecharacteristicsofdata.Knowinghowtocorrectlyreadahistogramgraph
cangreatlyassistprocessimprovementefforts.Becauseofahistogram'scommonuseitalsomakesanexcellentgraphicforrepresentingdata
duringpresentations.

Needatooltocreatehistograms?
Downloada30daytrialversionofEngineRoom,
MoreSteam'sconvenient,newWebbased
statisticaltool,andstarttoday.

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