Tables, Charts, and Graphs
with Examples from History, Economics, Education, Psychology, Urban Affairs and Everyday Life
REVISED: MICHAEL LOLKUS 2018
Types of Visual Representations of Data
Table of Yearly U.S. GDP by Industry (in millions of
dollars)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Y 2 0 0 202 0 2 2 0 32020111111415ea r
A l l I di t 2 6 09 31239128663246296011913089403139023557557577nusres
Mf i t 4992 5 21 55819425841608595329960474775829554anuacur ng
F i n a nce,
I Rl n s r an c ee au, 422414618684931303188133968901855777557557
l, E R t t t s a e e n a , i L
e a s n g
A t r s,
E i t t t, n e r a n m e n
R i t 9 6403 2 10 152381076249112049611896461283813ecr eaon,
A d i t c commoa on,
d d Si Fano o er cev
O h t 1 5614 5 11 1632011316948076174955151831860618686638er
• The chart below is called a pie chart. It shows what percent "of the pie" a particular category occupies out of the whole.
• If total GDP in 2015 is the entire pie, then manufacturing makes up 19% of that pie and finance makes up 18%. Notice that visually speaking,
since 19% and 18% are so close to each other in value, their respective slices of the pie are similarly sized.
2015 U.S. GDP (in millions of dollars)
Manufacturing
Pie charts can be misleading when the slices do not correspond with the percent contribution to the whole pie.
Notice the pie chart below is not very intuitive.
• The graph below is called a bar graph.
• It shows each of the variables independent of each other, each with its own bar.
• 2015 GDP for all industries was $31.397023; looking at the graph, the bar for all industries is just above $30.
• One is still be able compare each variable with the other by comparing bars.
2015 GDP (in trillions of dollars)
• If given a table of data, we should be able to plot it. Below is some sample data; plot the data with x on the x-axis and y on the y-axis.
x y
00
13
26
39
412
515
618
721
824
