Designing Information Material

Designing Information Material 4(1+3)

Lesson 7: Handling Numbers and Quantitative Expressions Tables and Charts

Types of Charts

1. Area charts: It shows the magnitude of change over time. It is particularly useful when several components are changing and the user is interested in some of the components. Area charts let the user see the change on the individual components as well as the change in the total. It is a stacked line chart, with the area between the lines filled with the colour or shading. An area chart plots data series one on top of the other.
2. Bar charts: a bar chart consists of a series of horizontal bars that allow comparison of the relative size of two or more items at one point of time. Each bar in a bar chart is a single data point or number on the sheet. The set of numbers for a single set of bars is a data series.

The bar chart has three primary sub –types

1. Stacked bar chart: as the name indicates stacks the data series on top of the other i.e. it displays the data series as multiple segments within a single bar.
2. The 100% stacked bar chart: all bars become the same height, respectively 100 per cent. The segments become percentage of the total instead of the numerical number.
3. 3-D bar chart: A 3-D bar chart adds depth to a standard bar chart, but does not have a third dimension.
3. Column charts: It consists of a series of vertical columns that allow comparison of the relative size of two or more items. Each column in a column chart is a data point or number on the sheet. The set of numbers for a single set of columns is a data series.
4. Line charts: A line chart is used to show trends over time, in a line chart, each of the data series is used to produce a line on the chart, with each number in the range producing a data point on the line
5. Pie –chart: a pie chart is a best used for comparing the percentages of a sum that several number represent. The full pie is the sum, and each number is represented by a slice. A pie chart can be exploded i.e. one of the slices separated from the other slices by simply clicking on one of the slices and dragging it away from the others
6. Doughnut charts: The dough nut charts is similar to the pie chart. However, the pie chart is restricted to one data series while the doughnut chart is not.
7. Radar charts: It shows the data changes in relation to a centre point and to each other. The value axis radiates from the centre point. Data from the same series is connected by lines.
8. Scatter charts: Scatter charts show the relationship between pairs of numbers and the trends they present. For each pair, one of the numbers is plotted on the X-axis and the other numbers is plotted on the Y-axis. Where the two points meet a symbol is placed on the chart. When a number is plotted a pattern may emerge