Choosing the correct chart type
Representing data with the correct chart type is what makes the difference between a standard graph and an excellent one. You may have the best data in the world, context-specific and processed to convey an important message, but if you use the wrong graph to represent it, your message will likely not be fully grasped.
In this section, we briefly discuss which chart types to use, based on the specific shape of the data. These are guidelines that you will have to adapt from time to time to your needs.
The section describes the most common graphs and when you should use them. We will review the following chart types:
- A line chart
- A bar chart
- An area chart
- A pie chart
Let’s start with the first chart, a line chart.
A line chart
A line chart compares data values that are sequentially connected. Usually, you can use a line chart to represent time series, as shown in the following figure: