Bar Charts

A bar chart or bar graph is a chart or graph that uses rectangular bars with heights or lengths proportionate to the values they represent to convey categorical data. The bars can be drawn in only one way either horizontally or vertically. Another well known name for vertical bar charts is  column chart. A bar graph is a type of graph that presents data using columns or bars that are rectangular in shape and are referred to as bins. Each bin displays the total number of observations that fall into a particular category.

Bar Charts

A bar graph depicts comparisons between distinct categories. The chart’s one axis depicts the specific categories being compared, while the other indicates a numerical value. Multiple bars clustered together in certain bar graphs reflect the values of multiple measured variables .

History of Bar Charts

The Exports and Imports of Scotland to and from Different Parts for One Year from Christmas 1780 to Christmas 1781 graph from William Playfair’s The Commercial and Political Atlas is widely known as the first bar chart in history. Diagrams illustrating the velocity of a perpetually speeding item against time published some 300 years previously in The Latitude of Forms (attributed to Jacobus de Sancto Martino or, maybe, Nicole Oresme) can be understood as “proto bar charts.”

Usage of Bar Charts

Category data is visualised using bar graphs and charts. The categorization of information into discrete categories, such as months of the year, age groups, shoe sizes, and animals, is known as categorical data. These are often qualitative groups.In a column bar chart, also known as a vertical bar chart, the categories are aligned down the horizontal axis of the chart, and the height of the bar represents the value of that category. Bar charts feature a limited number of categories and are usually resized to suit the entire graph’s data. When the categories that are being compared do not have a natural ordering, the bars on the chart are free to be arranged in any sequence that the user chooses. Pareto charts are bar charts that are organised from highest to lowest incidence.

Types of Bar Graphs

Despite the fact that the graph can be plotted horizontally or vertically, the vertical bar graph is the most common. The x-axis and y-axis orientations differ based on the type of vertical and horizontal bar chart. Aside from vertical and horizontal bar graphs, there are two types of bar charts: Grouped Bar graph and Stacked Bar Graph.

Vertical Bar Graphs

Vertical bar graphs are created when aggregated data is shown vertically in a graph or chart with the help of bars, where the bars indicate the data measure. The data is represented on the graph’s y-axis, with the height of the bars indicating the values.

Horizontal Bar Graphs

Horizontal bar graphs are created when grouped data is shown horizontally in a chart with the use of bars, with the bars indicating the data measure. The data is represented on the graph’s x-axis, with the length of the bars indicating the values.

Grouped Bar Graph

The grouped bar graph, also known as the clustered bar graph, is a type of bar graph that is used to depict discrete values for multiple objects in the same category. The total number of incidents is aggregated into a single bar in this form of bar chart. A grouped bar graph, in other words, is a sort of bar graph that compares multiple collections of data elements. A single colour is utilised across the collection to indicate the unique series. Both vertical and horizontal bar charts can be used to represent a grouped bar graph.

Stacked Bar Graph

The composite bar chart, often known as the stacked bar graph, separates the aggregate into different portions. Each portion of this style of bar graph can be represented by a distinct colour, making it easier to distinguish between the many categories. To show the distinct segments of the bar, the stacked bar chart requires particular labelling. Each bar symbolises the entire, and each segment represents the many sections of the whole in a stacked bar graph.

Conclusion

The relationship between a number of data values can be depicted using a bar graph. Each of the data values is represented by a column in the graph. The x-axis, often known as the horizontal axis, is the one that is used to list the many classes of data. The y axis, sometimes known as the vertical axis, provides a listing of the data’s quantity or amount.