Why Choosing the Right Chart Matters

Choosing the right type of chart helps you:

• Communicate insights clearly
• Avoid misinterpretation
• Improve audience understanding

Even the best analysis loses value if visualized incorrectly.

Types of Data and Recommended Charts

Different chart types are suited to different data structures and purposes. Here are common goals and what to use:

1. To Show Comparison

Used when you want to compare values across categories.

• Bar Chart → Comparing total sales by region
• Column Chart → Monthly revenue comparison
• Grouped/Stacked Bars → Sales split by product and region

2. To Show Trend Over Time

Time series data benefits from showing how things evolve.

• Line Chart → Stock price over months
• Area Chart → Website traffic over weeks

3. To Show Distribution

Use when you’re showing how values are spread or how frequently they occur.

• Histogram → Distribution of exam scores
• Box Plot → Spread and outliers of salaries in departments
• Violin Plot (Seaborn) → For more detailed distribution view

4. To Show Relationships/Correlations

These charts help analyze relationships between variables.

• Scatter Plot → Age vs income, height vs weight
• Bubble Chart → Similar to scatter but with a third variable (size)

5. To Show Parts of a Whole

Used when you’re visualizing how categories contribute to a total.

• Pie Chart → Market share by brand
• Donut Chart → Similar to pie but with a center hole
• Treemap → Hierarchical part-whole relationships

6. To Show Geographical Data

For spatial data (locations, countries, regions):

• Choropleth Map → Life expectancy by country
• Scatter Geo Plot → Store locations on a map

Examples and Mistakes to Avoid