The following table describes different aspects of data and identifies appropriate graph types for emphasizing these aspects.
Aspect of Data |
Example |
Graph Types |
---|---|---|
The difference between items over time or at the same point in time |
Which products are selling best in which stores? |
|
Trends over time |
Is our market share increasing or decreasing? |
|
Cyclical trends over time |
Have the sales of this product peaked in March consistently over the past three years? |
Radar graph |
Rate of data change |
How fast is our market share increasing? |
|
Percentage or changes in percentage |
How much of our revenue comes from each product line? Is our big seller bringing in the same percentage of revenue as it did last year at this time? |
|
Relationship of parts to the whole |
Which products' sales are most closely related to our total sales? Which products' sales follow the trend of the total sales? Which ones do not? |
Pie, Percentage bar or line, or Stacked bar, line, or area graph. |
Relationship of parts to the whole, with more detail for one of the parts |
Which product line accounts for the highest percentage of sales? Within that product line, which districts make up the most sales? |
|
Changes in all parts of a whole |
Do the products that bring the most revenue to the entire company bring in the most revenue for each district? |
|
Relationships between two variables |
Do sales increase when we spend more on marketing? |
|
Relationships between three variables |
Do sales and profits increase proportionally when we spend more on marketing? |
|
Location of defects in a system |
Where are the highest percentage of defects occuring? |