Uses of Pie Chart
- Within a business, it is used to compare areas of growth, such as turnover, profit and exposure.
- To represent categorical data.
- To show the performance of a student in a test, etc.
How to properly use a pie chart?
To explode a slice of a pie chart:
- Select the plot area of the pie chart.
- Select a slice of the pie chart to surround the slice with small blue highlight dots.
- Drag the slice away from the pie chart to explode it.
- To reposition a data label, select the data label to select all data labels.
- Select the data label you want to move and drag it to the desired location.
What are pie charts and why are they useful?
Why are pie charts useful? Pie charts are useful for displaying data that are classified into nominal or ordinal categories. Pie charts are generally used to show percentage or proportional data and usually the percentage represented by each category is provided next to the corresponding slice of pie.
Which of these are pie charts most useful for showing?
Why Pie Charts Are Better Than Bar Charts
- A simple visual experiment demonstrates the power of the pie chart. Look at the two bars. ...
- Our instinctive love of pies. Our ability to interpret proportions is hard-baked into our brains. ...
- Sorting helps. If we sort, we end with something a whole lot better. ...
- Donuts are even better when you have lots of categories. ...
What to consider when creating pie charts?
- Click Insert > Chart. ...
- Click Pie and then double-click the pie chart you want.
- In the spreadsheet that appears, replace the placeholder data with your own information. ...
- When you’ve finished, close the spreadsheet.
What is a pie chart?
A pie chart shows how a total amount is divided between levels of a categorical variable as a circle divided into radial slices. Each categorical v...
When should I use a pie chart?
Pie charts have a fairly narrow use-case that is encapsulated particularly well by its definition. In order to use a pie chart, you must have some...
What are alternatives to the pie chart?
A donut plot is a pie chart with a central circle removed. The central area can be used for additional information or to report statistics. Bar cha...
What is pie chart?
The pie chart is one of many different chart types that can be used for visualizing data. Learn more from our articles on essential chart types, how to choose a type of data visualization, or by browsing the full collection of articles in the charts category. Contents.
What is the primary objective of a pie chart?
Your primary objective in a pie chart should be to compare each group’s contribution to the whole, as opposed to comparing groups to each other. If the above points are not satisfied, the pie chart is not appropriate, and a different plot type should be used instead.
Why do pie charts lack tick marks?
Furthermore, if the slice values are meant to depict amounts rather than proportions, pie charts typically lack the tick marks to allow for estimation of values directly from slice sizes. It is for these reasons that annotations are a standard inclusion for pie charts.
What is stacked bar chart?
On the other hand, the stacked bar chart type can prove to be a strong rival to the pie chart in its ability to communicate a part-to-whole comparison. A single stacked bar can be thought of as a pie chart’s slices rolled out into a rectangular form.
What is the biggest competition for pie charts?
Bar chart. The biggest competition for the pie chart comes from the bar chart . Most of the time, you won’t want to use a pie chart – rather, a bar chart will get across the points more compactly and clearly. Many of the issues with pie charts are solved through the use of a bar chart.
Can you read a pie chart with a large number of slices?
Pie charts with a large number of slices can be difficult to read. It can be difficult to see the smallest slices, and it can be difficult to choose enough colors to make all of the slices distinct. Recommendations vary, but if you have more than about five categories, you might want to think about using a different chart type. As another option, you might consider lumping small slices into a single ‘other’ slice, colored in a neutral gray.
Can pie charts be labeled?
Pie charts can be labeled in terms of absolute values or by proportions. Labeling slices with absolute amounts and implying the proportions with the slice sizes is conventional, but consider the goals of your visualization carefully in order to decide on the best annotation style to use for your plot.
Why do we use pie charts?
In case the data has different categories, a pie chart can be used to draw a comparison between them, using different colors to denote each category. While drawing a pie chart one must assure that all the slices are of equal proportions, such that all parts make up the whole data when summed up.
Why are pie charts good?
As the pie charts are pretty good with the promotional distribution of data , they are of good use in media and business industries to draw an audience. If one category is prominent than the rest in various factors, a pie chart can be used to show the dominant trait of the same.
How is an exploded pie chart formed?
An exploded pie chart is formed when the slices of a pie chart are moved further away for further significance to be drawn to them. Here, each slice is observed closely. They look like the pieces of a whole pie, cut out and moved slightly outward from its center.
Why don't pie charts work?
This is because when we divide the data into many slices, the similarity between them makes it hard to distinguish them and the diversity between them is not properly conveyed. The more the number of categories increase, the more the number of the slices increase and ...
What is a 3D pie chart?
A 3-D pie chart also called a perspective pie chart, gives a 3-D outlook to a normal pie chart. These charts are no improvement to the regular pie charts and are used mostly because of their visually aesthetic appearance. Because of a third-dimension inclusion, these are also a bit difficult to understand in one look.
What is a doughnut chart?
Doughnut charts are very much like pie charts and show the relationship between the parts and the whole data. In this chart, more than one series can be plotted. The more the number of series is, the more rings can be added into the doughnut chart. Labels and text boxes can be added to explain what each ring in the doughnut denotes.
What is a ring chart?
A ring chart also called a multilevel chart or a sunburst chart is a chart formed by many concentric circles to visualize hierarchical data. The hierarchy moves from the circle at the center to outward circles. The circle in the very center of this chart is called a root node.
What is pie chart used for?
Names. Pie charts can be used for displaying minority groups. If you pie chart includes a category that does not have any data or values but instead summaries several different minorities, for example, the Other Answers option in a consumer survey, then you should display it in last order even it is not the smallest category in your pie chart. ...
What are some examples of pie charts?
Practical examples of using a pie chart including comparing growth areas for business turnover or profit.
Why avoid 3D effects in pie chart?
Avoiding 3D Effects: 3D effects are cool, but you should not consider them in the first place to highlight your data in a pie chart. 3D elements may detract your attention from the important message so you feel hard to compare sizes of different data groups. Also, the use of 3D effects will exaggerate the real influence of your data percentage.
Why is pie chart not suitable?
Purpose. It is not suitable to use pie charts to compare between different parts, instead, it should be used for showing the relationship between partial and overall elements. Using a pie chart is ideal for your categorical data groups since every single slice can show a specific category.
Why use more than one pie chart?
More than one pie chart could be used to compare multiple data categories when you have several different data points with distinguished data details. Usually, in such cases, data groups are identical or similar but have a difference in a specific variable, such as time or age factors. It is very meaningful to keep the same ordering ...
Why is it important to keep the same order in pie charts?
It is very meaningful to keep the same ordering or slices pattern in the second or more pie charts to facilitate comparisons . Be careful magnitudes of slices in your additional pie charts may no longer show the same as in the first one.
How many sets of data are in a pie chart?
Normally pie charts are used for no more than six sets of different data. Too many parts will cause difficulty to read so your eyes may not distinguish relativity of size among sections. Pie charts are not typically for negative values. Zero values should also be avoided.
Why is pie chart used?
Since the 1800s, pie charts are being used to display numbers and maps. By drawing attention to the high death rates caused by poor sanitary conditions during the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale was the first one to popularize the pie chart as a persuasive statistical tool.
Why is pie chart important?
A pie chart is most useful when you are attempting to determine the composition of something. When dealing with categorical results, a pie chart is ideal since each slice can represent a different category. Below is an excellent example of a pie chart .
What is pie chart?
A pie chart, also known as a circle graph, histogram, pie diagram, or scatter diagram , is a type of graph that uses a circular graph to view data. The graph's pieces are equal to the percentage of the total in each group. In other words, the size of each slice of the pie is proportional to the size of the group as a whole. The entire "pie" represents 100% of a total, while the "slices" represent parts of the whole.
When to use pie chart?
When to use a Pie Chart. A pie chart is best used when trying to work out the composition of something. If you have categorical data then using a pie chart would work really well as each slice can represent a different category. A good example of a pie chart can be seen below. Another good use for a pie chart would be to compare areas ...
What is pie chart?
A pie chart is a circular graph that is broken down into segments (i.e slices of pie). These segments represent each category's contribution to display parts of a whole. So if your data does not represent this then you should choose another chart.
What is not apparent on a pie chart?
Top tip: On a pie chart what is not apparent is the axis, although it does have one. It is in fact the perimeter of the circle that serves as the axis. It is important to consider the below points when choosing a pie chart to represent your data:
When to Use A Pie Chart?
Advantages of Using Pie Charts
- Pie charts are a good way to represent large data in a simple graphical manner.
- These charts are way simpler than other forms of charts.
Disadvantages of Using Pie Charts
- Pie charts don’t work well with data with categories having similar values. This is because when we divide the data into many slices, the similarity between them makes it hard to distinguish them a...
- The more the number of categories increase, the more the number of the slices increase and the more complex the chart becomes to read. This makes pie charts unsuitable for large data.
- Pie charts don’t work well with data with categories having similar values. This is because when we divide the data into many slices, the similarity between them makes it hard to distinguish them a...
- The more the number of categories increase, the more the number of the slices increase and the more complex the chart becomes to read. This makes pie charts unsuitable for large data.
- They cannot be used to compare different data from a different set of experiments.
- It takes up more space than any other suitable alternatives to represent data.
