Introduction to FX Stat 3

Getting Started When you open FX Stat you will see three separate areas

FX Stat Thinks in Columns You enter data into columns. You graph columns. Formulas and data generators operate on a whole column at once. Think columns! There are different types of columns. In the screen shot you can see a group column, a frequency column, a normal data column and a label column.

Your First Graph Enter some data (any data) into Column A Right click on the column and choose Quick Graph

Changing the Graph Type Change the graph type to suit your needs. For the moment, choose a Univariate graph type.

Right Click on Graph Many features are accessed by right-clicking on the graph Axes, Scales, Grid and Titles & Legend give you more control over the graph The screen shows the options for Line Graphs. Other graph types have their own screen. The DataSet options control the way each dataset is shown.

Data Set Options Data set options let you choose how a data set is displayed. You can change colours, line thickness, point type and size. You can also choose the colour that FX Stat uses to highlight selected data. The graph type button (marked) is used to combine graph types on one graph. This is discussed later.

Summary Statistics Now that we have our first graph, we can look at the summary statistics for the data. Only a small selection of the available statistics are shown below. Scroll down for more.

Getting Data You can enter your own data (Yuck!) You can copy data from other sources (like Excel) and paste them into FX Stat. You can generate data to fit your needs using FX Stat’s Data Generators. This is so efficient that you can easily generate a different data set for each student if you wish. The four buttons take you to different pages of the data generator.

Data Generators Select your desired generator from the left. FX Stat will give you a description of the distribution Fill in the parameters you need Push OK. The data generator will put the data into your desired column.

Reuse Formulas If you have used a data generator (or entered a formula into a column) pushing the Reuse Formula button will reuse the formula (including the parameters you have set) in the currently selected column. This allows you to quickly generate multiple sets of data.

Number of Data Sets FX Stat can graph 24 data sets on one set of axes. Six sets are easily accessible, the other 18 require you to push the More button. Some graph types (pie, divided bar, stem and leaf and back to back histograms) can only graph a limited number of data sets.

Graphing Bivariate Data Bivariate data needs data from two columns When you choose a bivariate graph type, you will notice that the data set buttons now have two locations to fill. To graph bivariate data, use Quick Graph twice. Trivariate data requires three columns (how surprising!)

Graphing Frequency Tables Change a column next to a data column to f by right clicking on it and choosing Set to Frequency Quick Graph the FREQUENCY column The graph and summary statistics will now be for the frequency information.

Entering Grouped Data Grouped data is similar to frequency tables – you have a group column and an attached frequency column. Enter groups using the notation which FX Stat automatically interprets as 10 <= x < 20 FX Stat will normally automatically identify group columns as you enter them. Quick Graph the FREQUENCY column.

The Problem with Data Statistics graphs are difficult and often a matter of opinion. Problems usually show up when people start adding cumulative frequency curves or frequency polygons to their graphs. Just about everything that you consider to be the “right way” of graphing statistics (particularly grouped data) is “obviously incorrect (you idiot)” somewhere in the world. This is a nightmare for us! The problem is not totally solvable because what you expect FX Stat to produce for a set of data is subtly different, depending on the context of the question. The difference is so subtle that we don’t always manage to convince people it exists. The problem exhibits when you use graphs which group data.

Entering your Own Groups If you enter your own groups and frequencies, FX Stat will almost certainly produce what you are after, even if it makes no sense.

Graphing Continuous Data If you ask FX Stat to draw a histogram of some continuous data, FX Stat will automatically group it and draw a graph. This will usually be what you want but you may need to manually change the group width by right- clicking on the graph. If you can’t get FX Stat to produce the exact groups you want, enter your own.

Graphing Discrete(ish) Data – Here Be Demons! Here we have added a cf curve to the graphs. Which graph is correct? Well…… it depends on the context. BOTH are correct depending on the circumstances. FX Stat will produce Graph 1. Graph 2 can be produced by grouping the data.

The Solution If you cannot get FX Stat to produce what you want, explicitly enter your own groups or use FX Stat to group existing data into groups you have created.

Mixing Graph Types 1 Graph the same data TWICE. Set the graph type to one of the two graphs types you want. Edit the second data set (by pushing the data set button

Mixing Graph Types 2 Change the graph type for the second data set. You will have a reduced selection as not all graph types can be mixed.

Mixing Graph Types 3

Fill Down Often you can minimize your data entry by using fill down.

Typing Formulas Click in a cell and type = FX Stat can do all sorts of calculations on columns. Column B = 2A. Column C is the rank of the numbers in column B More details of the available commands can be found in the Help file.

Tutorials Efofex provides comprehensive training for FX Stat 3 available as convenient tutorials. Register at The system will send an a day for a few weeks. tutorials are available for all Efofex products.