Chapter 3, Charts

• Charts (or graphs) provide a natural way to present information.
• We do better looking at pictures than tables of numbers.
• But we need to make sure that we are honestly presenting the data
• I will work with this workbook
  • It presents the number of children in PA sorted by the educational attainment of the head of household.
  • For 5 years.
• Important
  • Make sure that everything is labeled. Use these labels.
  • Multiple data selections can be made using the ctrl key.
  • Make sure you don't plot total rows or columns.
  • 
• Selecting the Right Chart.
  • Excel is wonderful and provides many different chart options.
    • But not every chart is right for all data.
    • A pie or circle chart is good for showing proportion of a single set of data.
    • A line chart shows the change in continuous data. Data over time.
    • A column chart or a bar chart is appropriate for comparing multiple categories.
    • You probably don't need a Sunburst, Radar or Treemap chart for most of your data.
    • Stick with familiar charts.
  • The Recommended Charts item on the Charts group of the Insert tab is useful.
    • It will show what excel has determined might be the right chart for you.
• Formatting your chart.
  • I find QuickLayout on the Chart Layouts group of th Design sub tab of the Chart Tools tab to be extremely helpful.
    • Select an appropriate starting point.
    • Then modify to what you want.
  • There are many levels of control.
  • What I find important is that
    • Everything is labeled.
    • You don't distort the graph to change the information content.