Overview of different types of charts
Answers
Column Charts
Column charts are very useful for the comparison of at least one set of data points. The vertical axis, which is also known as the Y axis, is often shown in numeric values. The X axis on the horizontal line shows a period of time.
Bar Charts:
Bar charts are for comparing concepts and percentages among factors or sets of data. Users can set different distinct choice for your respondents, for example, annually or quarterly sales. You can see bar charts are similar to what column charts lying on its X axis.
bar chart sample
if you are not sure about when to insert a bar chart for your work, you should think about the specific kind of your original data and your personal preference.
Pie Charts:
It is in the shape of a pie to show the relationship between the main and sub-categories of your data. It is good to use when you are dealing with categorized groups of data, or if you want to show differences among data based on a single variable.
pie chart sample
For business projects you can use pie charts to represent the importance of one specific factor on the others. However, for analyzing several different data sets you should go for column charts.
Doughnut Charts:
Doughnut charts are very similar to pie charts in terms of the area in the center cut out.
Line Charts:
This type of chart is normally used for explaining trends over periods. The vertical axis always displays numeric amount, while the X axis indicates some other related factors. Line charts can be shown with markers in the shape of circles, squares or other formats.
Area Charts:
Area charts are very similar to line charts, but the former ones have solid plot lines. Area charts are ideal for displaying trends over a period for single or several categories, or the change between several data groups. Basically, area charts have two main types: the stacked and the completed stacked area chart. Both of these types can show the nature of your selected data sets.
Spider and Radar Charts:
Spider and radar charts are also known as web charts, star charts or polar charts. If you have a large set of different data groups, using spider and radar charts are better than column ones. The radar chart is good for showing multiple data groups in terms of 2D diagrams of at least three variables on axes.
Gauge Charts:
Factors in gauge charts normally show as individual value. Such indicators are usually in red color for the wrong message, or in green ones for correct ones. Gauge charts are ideal for showing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) especially for business plans, therefore they are usually used by managers or employers for ongoing assignments.
Comparison Charts:
Comparison charts, which are also known as cluster diagrams, are typically for comparing between at least two objects, units, or groups of data. The chart can provide a visual comparison of both qualitative and quantitative details. Types of comparison charts including comparisons between components, items, time series, correlations, and distributions frequency. The main purpose of comparison charts is to show an outline of possibilities for different circumferences.