Should I use a stacked bar chart?

Stacked Chart. Bar charts are best used when showing comparisons between categories. Typically, the bars are proportional to the values they represent and can be plotted either horizontally or vertically. One axis of the chart shows the specific categories being compared, and the other axis represents discrete values.

What is better than a stacked bar chart?

Dot plot. An alternative to the bar or column panel charts is a dot plot. The advantage is that all points are plotted in the same XY space, allowing for easier comparisons.

Why are stacked bar charts bad?

Stacked bars are particularly problematic because they have the air of precision, when they’re really poor. They can be useful when the point is to show that a value is the sum of other values, but you’re only interested in comparing the totals.

Why are stacked bar graphs better than pie charts?

When there are lots of categories, it’s relatively easy to find additional space for more bars, especially if they are plotted horizontally. Overall, the bar chart is a much more information-dense visualization than the pie chart.

What is the disadvantage of a stacked column chart?

The problem with this type of chart is that the reader can’t tell whether the values in the individual series is increasing or decreasing. The reader also might not be able to tell if Series 1 is increasing or decreasing.

How do you make a stacked bar chart look good?

How to create better stacked column charts. Bring the most important value to the bottom of the chart and use color to make it stand out. Your readers can compare values easier with each other if they have the same baseline. Consider stacking percentages (so that every total will sum up to 100\%).

What are the disadvantages of stacked charts?

Cons

• Difficult to compare all but first series.
• Become visually complex as categories or series are added.

What are stacked column charts good for?

Stacked column charts are great to show the parts of multiple totals. If you only want to show parts of one total, consider a bar chart instead. It will use your available space better than a stacked column chart. In addition, readers will be able to compare the parts better with each other.

What is a disadvantage of a stacked column chart excel?

Which chart type is the best when you want to chart two unrelated data types?

Combination Chart: A combination chart is a visualization that combines two or more chart types into a single chart. Combination charts are an ideal choice when you want to compare two categories of each individual sub-item.

Why do you use a stacked column chart?

A stacked column chart is a basic Excel chart type to allow part-to-whole comparisons over time, or across categories. In a stacked column chart, data series are stacked one on top of the other in vertical columns. Stacked column charts can show change over time because it’s easy to compare total column lengths.

What is a disadvantage of a stacked column chart?

What is a disadvantage of a stacked column chart? Segments do not start at the same point.