Data Storytelling - How to Choose the Right Chart or Graph for Your Data

As an analyzer, we sift through a huge amount of data everyday. Data can and usually come from various sources and in various formats. They cannot be visually represented clearly if their differences are not considered. Choosing the wrong visual aid or simply defaulting to the most common type of data visualization could cause confusion with the viewer or lead to mistaken data interpretation.

You need to ask yourself some questions when deciding which type of chart to use.

Do you want to compare values? If yes, choose the any of the following charts:

Column 

Bar

Pie

Line

Scatter Plot

Bullet

Do you want to show the composition of something? If yes, then chose the following:

Pie

Stacked Bar

Mekko

Stacked Column

Waterfall

Area

If you want to understand the distribution of your data, choose among the following:

Scatter Plot

Mekko

Line

Column

Bar

These charts help you determine outliers

If you want to analyze trends in your data, choose among the following:

Line

Dual-Line Axis

Column

Description about the various charts that can be used:

Column chart: A column chart is used to show comparison among different items. It can also be used to show comparisons over time.

Ex:

                                                   

Bar Graph: It is a graph that presents categorical data with rectangular bars with heights or lengths with lengths proportional to the values that they represent.

Ex:

                                         
    

Line Graph: It is a type of chart used to show information that changes over time. We plot line graphs using several points connected by straight lines.

                                                            

Stacked Bar Chart: This should be used to compare many different items and show the composition of each item being compared.

Ex:

                                       

Dual Axis Chart: It allows us to plot data using two y-axis and one shares x-axis. It is used with three data sets, one of which is based on a continuous set of data and another which is grouped by category.

Ex:

                                                       

 

Pie Chart: It is a circular statistical graphic, which is divided into slices to illustrate numerical proportion. In a pie chart, the arc length of each slice, is proportional to the quantity it represents.

Ex:

          

Area Chart: An area chart is like a line chart in terms of how data values are plotted on the chart and connected using line segments. In an area chart, the are between the line segments and the x-axis is filled with colour.

Ex:

                 

Mekko Chart: Mekko Charts are used to visualize categorical data over a pair of vegetables. In these kinds of charts, both axes are variable with a percentage scale, that determines both the width and height of each segment. They are also known as Mosaic Plot.

Ex:

Scatter Plot Chart: Scatter Plots are similar to line graphs. A line graph uses a line on an X-Y axis plot a continuous function, while a scatter plot uses dots to represents individual pieces of data.

Ex:

Waterfall Chart: Waterfall charts are typically used to show how an initial value is increased and decreased by a series of intermediate values, leading to a final value.

Ex: