Creating Graphs and Charts in Excel
There are three basic steps involved with creating a graph or chart. 1) Look at your data and decide the type of graph that is appropriate: a) Pie charts show the contributions of each part to a total and are useful for showing data from all products in a firm, all regions in a firm, or all members in a population. Pie charts are NOT correct when used with data over a span of years.
Pie Chart
b) Bar charts (horizontal) charts are useful for both comparison data and for showing data over a span of years. For example, they would be appropriate for comparing sales in multiple divisions, or comparing profits per product in a company or showing population growth over time.
Bar Chart
c) Column (vertical) charts are useful for both comparison data and for showing data over a span of years. For example, they would be appropriate for comparing sales in multiple divisions, or comparing profits per product in a company or showing population growth over time.
Column Chart
d) Line charts show change. They too are useful for comparisons an for data over a span of years. For example, they would be appropriate for comparing sales in multiple divisions, or comparing profits per product in a company and showing population growth over time.
Line Chart
2) Highlight the cells you want represented in the graph including row and column headings. Note, sometimes you will need data that is not together. In those cases, click and drag on the first range, then Ctrl, click, and drag on the non-contiguous ranges.
3) Start the chart wizard. a) select the type of chart b) select the chart sub-type c) select options from the title, legend, and data label tabs d) move the graph to an appropriate area in the sheet
If you need to redo your graph, just click on the graph so the handles are showing and press delete. Begin the graphing process again. Formative Assignments. 1. Retrieve job 7, Sales by Region. Create different types of graphs for the data. 2. Using the Stats Canada info, create a graph showing the numbers of males and females. 3. Using the Stats Canada Database, create a spreadsheet and graph showing the population growth over time.