SAS Tip
of the Month
June 2005
Being able to see what you data is helpful when analysing it. The most common procedure I find useful is the CHART procedure with the HBAR statement. Its use for continuous data, showing the extremes and distribution, can be seen in the following simple example:
The SAS Code
proc chart data=wgtdata;
hbar wtkg;
title "Frequency Analysis of Weight (kg)";
run;
The Output
Frequency Analysis of Weight (kg)
Weight (kg) Cum. Cum.
Midpoint Freq Freq Percent Percent
|
110 |****** 6 6 6.00 6.00
|
130 |**************************** 28 34 28.00 34.00
|
150 |************************************** 38 72 38.00 72.00
|
170 |********************* 21 93 21.00 93.00
|
190 |**** 4 97 4.00 97.00
|
210 |* 1 98 1.00 98.00
|
230 |* 1 99 1.00 99.00
|
250 |* 1 100 1.00 100.00
|
-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Frequency
As can be seen from the example the weights are mostly around the 140-160 range but there are a couple of values around the 220-260 I would confirm as they look extreme. It it likely that the values are correct but there is no harm in just checking.
Updated June 7, 2005