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Scenario 2 Part A-1: Detailed Example
Hearings Activity in Congress

Chart to be replicated:

(Click on the thumbnails to view the larger picture.)

Step 1

Following this link, Policy Analysis Tool, will open up the query form in a new window.

Select the option for "Congressional Sessions". Select "80" from the "From" drop-down list and "105" from the "To" drop-down list.
Then, select the datasets of interest. Click the box next to "Congressional Hearings" to de-select that dataset.
Since we are interested in total hearings, do not check (click) any boxes next to the topics
Next, click in (check) each box next to House Hearings, Senate Hearings, and Joint Hearings to select these datasets. This will allow you to compare total hearings in each chamber.
Next, since we want to see the results as a count of total hearings in each chamber, select the option "Number of cases per year or congress."
Finally, click the "Submit Search As Is" button, since we do not need any filters or subtopics available on the Advanced Form.

	Clicking the "Submit Search As Is" button, produces a bar chart showing the number of House, Senate, and Joint hearings over time.

	Below the chart is a table of the results.

	Clicking on the values in the table will produce of list of the hearings for that particular issue in that particular congress.

	You can alter the appearance of the chart by right-clicking anywhere on the chart. This will produce an menu of options.

	The picture to the left shows the results from selecting "Properties" options. Under the "General" tab, select "Stacked" and the appropriate option in the drop-down box. The colors were altered by selecting "Gray Scale" from the Palette drop-down list; and under the "Series" tab the "fill color" for each series was selected. Finally, we have created a legend box by selecting "Legend Box" from the menu of options, then right-clicking in the resulting legend box and selecting "Float" from that menu and moving the box to the location shown in the picture. For more information on altering the chart appearance, please see the Chart Tutorial.