Deans Community High School

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Deans Community High School
Graphic Communication
Graphs and Charts
CDT Department
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Graphs
A GRAPH (or Line Graph) connects a series of
plotted points. The graph depicts trends or
movement over a period of time.
WHEN TO USE
To show trends or movements rather than amounts
To Illustrate long series of data
To compare series of data
To predict trends or movement
WHEN NOT TO USE
When the emphasis is on amounts
When relative size or difference is required
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Enhancing Graphs
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BAR CHARTS
A BAR CHART compares qualities or values which
are not time related.
Physical qualities such as size or weight work
best vertically.
Comparison of the magnitude of a number of items
work best horizontally.
WHEN TO USE
To compare the magnitude or size.
WHEN NOT TO USE
To illustrate trends or movement
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Enhancing Bar Charts
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PIE CHARTS
A PIE CHART is used to show relative values as a
whole
Charts with 7 or more components are usually
confusing and difficult to interpret
WHEN TO USE
To show approximate relative values of component
parts of a whole.
WHEN NOT TO USE
To compare component parts
To show large numbers of components in a part.
When the values of a number of component parts
are small
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Enhancing Pie Charts
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PICTOGRAM
Pictograms may be considered a type of BAR graph
Values or sizes are represented by symbols or
pictures directly related to the information
being conveyed.
WHEN TO USE
When items by be represented by symbols or
pictures.
WHEN NOT TO USE
When symbols or pictures are unclear or obscure.
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Enhancing Pictograms