ITEC1010 – Section M – Winter 2000

Practice Spreadsheet Problem

Charts

In this example, we will explore Charts. In particular, we are interested in leaning how to properly display data using Charts. Within Excel, there are several types of Charts. Depending on the type of data, certain types are charts are more appropriate than others in generating a visual representation of the data.

Consider the following two data sets:

What type of chart is best for these data sets? Although the two sets contain the same amount of data, the type of chart appropriate for each is different. In the data set on the left, the height of two children is given over a seven-year period. Because there is a natural progression of height from one year to the next, a line chart is a good choice.

In the data set on the right, the 1999 sales for two retail chains are given, broken down by seven product categories. There is no natural connection between product categories, therefore a line chart is a poor choice. A bar chart is more appropriate. As well, depending on the purpose of the chart, it may be more appropriate to group the data “by product” or “by retailer”.

If just one retail outlet’s sales are being plotted, then a pie chart is also a reasonable choice.

Construction several charts for the data sets above. Choose an appropriate type of chart in each case.