- Overview of Data Visualization
- When to Use Bar Chart, Column Chart, and Area Chart
- What is Line Chart and When to Use It
- What are Pie Chart and Donut Chart and When to Use Them
- How to Read Scatter Chart and Bubble Chart
- What is a Box Plot and How to Read It
- Understanding Japanese Candlestick Charts and OHLC Charts
- Understanding Treemap, Heatmap and Other Map Charts
- Visualization in Data Science
- Graphic Systems in R
- Accessing Built-in Datasets in R
- How to Create a Scatter Plot in R
- Create a Scatter Plot in R with Multiple Groups
- Creating a Bar Chart in R
- Creating a Line Chart in R
- Plotting Multiple Datasets on One Chart in R
- Adding Details and Features to R Plots
- Introduction to ggplot2
- Grammar of Graphics in ggplot
- Data Import and Basic Manipulation in R - German Credit Dataset
- Create ggplot Graph with German Credit Data in R
- Splitting Plots with Facets in ggplots
- ggplot2 - Chart Aesthetics and Position Adjustments in R
- Creating a Line Chart in ggplot 2 in R
- Add a Statistical Layer on Line Chart in ggplot2
- stat_summary for Statistical Summary in ggplot2 R
- Facets for ggplot2 Charts in R (Faceting Layer)
- Coordinates in ggplot2 in R
- Changing Themes (Look and Feel) in ggplot2 in R
When to Use Bar Chart, Column Chart, and Area Chart
Bar Chart and Column Chart
A Bar Chart or Bar Graph can be only used to compare values. It presents grouped data using rectangular bars whose lengths are proportional to the values that they represent. The bars can be plotted vertically or horizontally. A vertical bar chart is sometimes called a Column Chart. Bar charts are usually scaled so that all the data can fit on the chart. Bars on the chart can be arranged in any order. The point values can be compared between themselves (single-series chart) or values inside the category (multi-series chart). In case of several series points are grouped by categories.
While talking about charts, we will generally refer to different axis as dimensions and measures.
The same chart can be presented as a column chart as shown below:
Area Chart
An area chart or area graph is used to display quantitative data in a graphical manner. Common uses are the comparison of two or more quantities. They can be used to represent cumulated totals using numbers or percentages over time. Use the area chart to show trends over time among related attributes. When multiple attributes are included, the first attribute is plotted as a line with color fill followed by the second attribute, and so on. Technically this chart type is based on Line Chart and represents filled area between zeroline and the line that connects data points. The same as for Line Chart, timeline scale is the most common case for the X-axis of the Area Chart, but sometimes ordinal scale can be also used.
The following area chart shows venture capital investment by stage.
100% Stack Area Chart
100 Percent Stacked Area Charts display the data that can be put in a table on a worksheet (the items should have two coordinates or parameters). A stacked chart means that all values of one category form a whole; when we’ve got a 100% stacked chart, it means that this chart displays the comparison of the percentage value each part of the category brings to the category. Real values are not displayed, chart shows only the percentage.
This 100% stacked area chart shows the venture capital investment by stage.
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