Using Graphs to Display Results

A bar chart consists of a grid and some vertical or horizontal bars. Each bar represents quantitative data.

A targeted bar chart is a variation of the bar chart that has pointers to target values.

A waterfall chart shows how the initial value of a measure increases or decreases during a series of operations or transactions. (This chart is also called a progressive bar chart.) The first bar begins at the initial value, and each subsequent bar begins where the previous bar ends. The length and direction of a bar indicates the magnitude and type (positive or negative, for example) of the operation or transaction. The resulting chart is a stepped cascade that shows how the transactions or operations lead to the final value of the measure.

A line chart shows the relationship of one variable to another, often as movements or trends in the data over a period of time. Line graphs summarize source data and typically are used to chart response values against discrete categorical values.

A pie chart is a circular chart that is divided into slices by radial lines. Each slice represents the relative contribution of each part to the whole.

A scatter plot is a two-dimensional plot that shows the joint variation of two data items. In a scatter plot, each marker (represented by symbols such as dots, squares, and plus signs) represents an observation. The marker position indicates the value for each observation.

A time series plot shows an ordered sequence of values of a variable that are observed at equally spaced time intervals.

A bubble plot is a variation of a scatter plot in which the markers are replaced with bubbles. In a bubble plot, each bubble represents an observation. The location of the bubble represents the value for the two measure axes; the size of the bubble represents the value for the third measure. A bubble plot is useful for data sets with dozens to represent large data or when the values differ by several orders of magnitude. You can also use a bubble plot when you want specific values to be more visually represented by different bubble sizes.

A treemap is divided into rectangular areas called tiles. The color of each tile represents the value of the first measure in the query. The size of each tile represents the value of the second measure in the query. For example, a treemap might be used to represent sales data where the tile sizes vary according to the number of orders invoiced and the tile colors are derived from a color gradient that represents low to high sales figures.

A dual axis bar chart is a variation of the bar chart that has two measures, one on each axis. There can be one measure per axis for a total of two measures.

A dual axis line chart is a variation of the line chart that has two measures, one on each axis. There can be one measure per axis for a total of two measures.

A dual axis bar-line chart is a bar chart that has two measures, one on each axis, and is overlaid by a line chart. There can be one measure per axis for a total of two measures.

A dual axis time series plot is a variation of the time series plot that has two measures, one on each axis. There can be one measure per axis for a total of two measures.