AGB 260: Agribusiness Information Technology Graphing and Sparklines

Useful Chapters in the Textbook Regarding this Lecture  Chapter 19  Chapter 20  Chapter 22

Charts in Excel  A chart is a visual representation of data.  If done correctly, it allows you to present information in a visual form that is usually more understandable.  Charts in Excel are embedded and reside on the object layer.  A chart can also be put into a chart sheet.

Types of Charts In Excel  Column  Bar  Line  Pie  Scatter (XY)  Area  Radar  Surface  Bubble  Stocks

Column Chart  A column chart presents your data in vertical columns.  These charts are used to compare discrete items where the height corresponds to the value.  Column charts come in:  Clustered Column (3D optional)  Stacked Column (3D optional)  100% Stacked Column (3D optional)  3D Column

Example of Column Chart

Bar Chart  A bar chart is a column chart that has been flipped 90 degrees.  You may want to use a bar chart over a column chart to make your category labels easier to display and read.  Types of column chart:  Clustered Bar (3D optional)  Stacked Bar (3D optional)  100% Stacked Bar (3D optional)

Example of Bar Chart

Line Charts  These charts are meant to plot data that is relatively continuous, e.g., years.  Line charts can help you understand the trends and seasonality of your data.  Types of Line Charts:  Line (Optional with Markers)  Stacked Line (Optional with Markers)  100% Stacked Line (Optional with Markers)  3D Line

Line Charts Continued  You can add trend lines to your line charts.  This trends can be linear or non- linear.  You can information regarding the trend line, including:  The equation that makes the trend line  R 2

Example 1 of Line Chart

Example 2 of Line Chart

Pie Charts  A pie chart is helpful in visualizing proportional data or data that can be made proportional.  A pie chart can only handle one data series.  You should be cautious on the number of items you represent in a pie chart.  Types of Pie Charts:  Pie (3D optional), Pie of Pie, Bar of Pie, Doughnut

Example of Pie Chart

Scatter (XY) Chart  A scatter chart shows the relationship between two or more variables where one of the variables could be considered the independent variable to the other.  Types of Scatter Charts:  Scatter  Scatter with Smooth Lines and Markers  Scatter with Smooth Lines  Scatter with Straight Lines and Markers

Scatter Chart Example

Area Charts  Area Charts are good at displaying how each contributes to the whole.  Types of Area Charts:  Area (3D Optional)  Stacked Area (3D Optional)  100% Stacked Area (3D Optional)

Example of Area Chart

Bubble Chart  A Bubble Chart is much like a scatter chart in the sense that it allows you to see the relationship between two variables, but it goes one step further by allowing you the ability to see a third dimension to the data in two dimensional space.  Types of Bubble Charts:  Bubble and 3-D Bubble

Bubble Chart Example

Bubble Chart Example 2

Bubble Chart Example 3

Radar Charts  Radar Charts have an axis for each category where the axis moves outward as the numbers increase.  These charts are useful when examining seasonality of products.  Types of Radar Charts:  Radar, Radar with Markers, Filled Radar

Example of Radar Charts

Surface Charts  These charts display two or more variables on a surface.  Excel uses color to help distinguish values.  Types of Surface Charts:  3D Surface  Wireframe 3D Surface  Contour  Wireframe Contour

Example of Surface Charts

Stock Charts  Stock Charts are displaying information that has highs, lows, and averages much like you would see with stock market data and commodity data.  Types of Stock Charts:  High-Low-Close  Open-High-Low-Close  Volume-High-Low-Close  Volume-Open-High-Low-Close

Example of a Stock Chart

Sparkline Graphics  A Sparkline Graphic is a chart that is placed in a single cell.  It allows for a quick examination for trends and variation in the data.  It can only deal with one series of data at a time and is placed within the cell rather than on the objects layer.  Types of Sparkline Graphics:  Line, Column, Win/Loss

Notes on Charts  If you are unsure of what chart would be appropriate to use for your data, you can click on the Recommended Charts button on the Insert Ribbon.  This gives you the ability to look at your data in different types of charts that Excel believes fits your data the best.

Notes on Charts Cont.  The best way to learn about charts is to experiment with them.