Please see me my other Excel articles. Quickly Communicating Data Points While many charts communicate data trends effectively, they do not do show them efficiently. In other words, if the user only requires a quick snap shot of the data, a verbose, heavy-graphic chart wastes valuable time on the part of the user when only…

Please see me my other Excel articles. Pie: Comparing Distributions of Data Pie charts provide a mechanism to compare distributions of data within a circle with the different categories touching each other. In this example, I’ll begin with a data set describing four medicines and their effectiveness. To create a bar chart, I’ll highlight the…

Please see me my other Excel articles. Using an Ogive to Communicate Accumulated Growth over Time In my line chart article I demonstrated how to create a line chart, or ogive, which is similar to a bar chart in that a trend over time is displayed, but an ogive only displays the greatest value for…

Please see me my other Excel articles. Line Chart: Displaying Trends Over Time Often in statistical studies the organization requires the ability to discern patterns within trends which spans dates. The Line Chart represents one of the best methods to display trends of time. In this article I will demonstrate how to display the effect…

Please see me my other Excel articles. Histogram: Comparing Distributions Comparing distributions against each other using a value list yields rich insight. In this article I will describe how to use a column chart to compare data from a cancer study. I’ll begin with a data set which describes age groups and frequency of cancer…

Please see me my other Excel articles. Bubble: Comparing Data Correlations and Variances Similar to XY Scatter Plot charts (above) where you compare correlations between data, you may elect to use a bubble chart to additionally view data variances. Beginning with the same data set for XY Scatter Plot charts example, I added some data…

Please see me my other Excel articles. Stacked Column Chart: Comparing Distributions and Their Ranges Similar to the Bar Chart, chart allows you to compare categories, but also ranges of values within each category. In this example, I’ll begin with a data set consisting of adult-student grade averages listed by age group and US regions.…

Please see me my other Excel articles. Clustered Column Chart: Comparing Categories & Sub Categories Similar to bar chart previous described, this chart type provides an intuitive way to describe categories with the addition of sub categories as well. In this example, I will use this chart type to visually-describe a multiyear medical study of…

Please see me my other Excel articles. Use a Bar Chart to Communicate Important Trends In this article I will highlight important considerations when designing a bar chart to ensure its ability to intuitively illustrate patterns within data. First, I’ll begin with a simple data set of disease diagnoses for age groups beginning with new…