On this page, I wanted to mention two things.
- Adding things to charts that can be helpful rhetorically.
- Using the Google Colab notebook that I mentioned last class as an option to try to make charts.
Adding Things to Charts
If you create a chart in Excel or anywhere else, you will get default. But is that enough? What changes can you make? And why?
Here are some things to think about:
- Annotations (e.g., notes that give more information about the chart)
- Reference Points (e.g., highlighting a data-point to interpret chart information against…using color, a circle, etc. to point to a specific part of the chart that is important to compare against)
- Lines (e.g., connecting different pieces of the chart together to highlight something or pointing to something…can be used in combination with an annotation)
- Regions (e.g., shading or color to highlight a specific part of a chart…for instance, in a line chart about the economy over time, you could highlight a region of year that depict a recession)
- Data Labels (this can help make reading charts easier as it gives the number right above, say, the bars in a bar chart or the section of a pie chart or the data-points on a line chart)
- Legends (this can explain what each color or line or bar, etc. represents in a box on the chart)
- Title (super, super important to help explain what is in the chart! All charts should be intelligible on their own, even if not fully contextualized in ways writing can help do…a good title explains the variables and what the chart measures in a direct fashion)
- Axis Titles and Labels (a label for each axis helps explain what is plotted on those axes)
- Color (can help distinguish between bars, lines, etc. to make things more readable–as we will discuss when talking about design and accessibility, though, the types of colors you use can make things harder to read at times).
This page explains how to make many of the above adjustments in Excel: Excel charts: add title, customize chart axis, legend and data labels (ablebits.com)
If you are not sure how to do something you really want to do, you can always reach out and I can help you.
Task
Let’s look again at that chart about the gender wage gap that we talked about in a previous learning module and in class on April 5. See image under “Task” from this Learning Module Page. Can also see image in better quality at this link (scroll down, first chart on the page).
In a comment below, do one of the following:
- name elements from the above list of things to add to charts and talk a bit about what you think is effective or ineffective. Explain why.
- name elements from the above list of things to add to charts that is not there but you think could be added to improve the chart. Explain why.
After commenting below, click on the button below to continue:
Different colors of each category would be effective rather than keeping the same blue color. It shows more difference.
I think maybe showing the region of wage in comparison to men would show a massive difference in wages rather than putting it off to the side, I didn’t that was effective and I didn’t really notice it honestly.
Also, maybe it would be more effective to it from smallest to largest as it would show the greatest discrepancies between the largest wage to the smallest wage based on ethnicity.
I would use different colors for each category to show difference and this should allow an easier comparison between the races.
As we also mention in class, I’d definitely rank them in order for easy interpretation.
Something that is lacking in this chart in the information for men earnings based on different races. I believe with this it will be more helpful for the overall comparison and analysis.
For the Legend of a chart, it, sometimes, works just like a slicer to illustrate singular data, which means only the selected category is going to be displayed on the chart in Excel. It is effective for cases where users need to visualize the trend of selected data via the x-axis.
Reference Points would be helpful and effective to add on this chart in order to distinguish the highest or lowest number by using colors (for example, red can be used to emphasize Hispanic or Latino bar with the lowest number of wage compares to others as a significant sign in the chart) or using circle around the bar so readers can clearly see the difference.
I think I will use different colors in the bar chart for white men and then a different color for women of a different race. In that way, it can distinguish the wage between White men and women of different ethnicities. Also, I would do a vertical bar graph instead of a horizontal one. It would be a better comparison. Annotation seems to be ineffective with it being too lengthy.
I had the same thought. Using different colors to distinguish each race is visually more impactful. If white men and women had the same color scheme in the graph, readers can more easily see the disparities emphasized, which is the ultimate intended purpose of the article and study.
The visual from April 5th could have used two things to help it.
1. A title that helps the reader more easily understand what it is. Something like ” The Audience Spectrum”
2. It could have used another data point in the center to make it clear to the reader what the author believed the middle ground was.
I would just simply use different colors for each categorization to make it look unique and interesting for the audiences. This way, readers can see what I’m talking about. If it’s all in the same color it doesn’t really show any difference. I would also rotate the chart to a vertical chart instead of horizontal. I feel like horizontal doesn’t really show anything when you are trying to compare things. Vertical is always better.
I would definitely use colors on my chart because I have around 7 searched terms and it is important to the reader to differentiate the frequency among them, and the rate in which the terms is been searched. Using colors will be helpful for a better understanding of the chart, as well as to compare and contrast the frequency between other terms.
I think color is effective because it is more appealing to the eye and can help emphasize data. A legend is effective because it gives meaning to the colors people are seeing. A title is also effective because it ties the data that the visual is showcasing together and provides context. I used annotations for my white paper’s visuals to further certain points I want to make.
Color could have been used more effectively to show the money. What if each bar was a dollar that would send the message to the viewer in a way that could be understood. I may have spoiled my appetite because I have found a better version of this chart by the acclaimed data reporter Mona Chabali which perfectly shows what is missing from this chart. Turning the bars to money and moving the bars in descending order is better.
When creating a chart, it is essential to ensure it conveys the message the data represents. Various aspects listed can help achieve this goal. Notably, annotations, labeled axes, titles, data labels, colors, and lines are all essential for a chart, but depending on the type. Having titles for the axes shows the variables based on which the chart was created. Otherwise, it will not make any sense since the reader will not understand what was measured. Also, annotations explain better what the chart is about. This purpose can also be achieved with a simple, clear title. Using colors and shading can also highlight and differentiate critical data. An element not included in the list is a tick mark, which helps identify the reference points more quickly. They are based on a continuous numbering approach. This aspect will allow the reader to easily understand the specific data the chart is showing in the x and y axes. A basic chart in Excel does not have aspects like data labels, annotations, and titles. Thus, I would make these aspects, especially include a clear title and data labels. If the chart is not easily readable, I can add annotations to help the reader grasp what it is about in more detail.
Making sure that the point is clear and concise. We don’t want the reader to be confused and it’s important to have a topic that is interesting or attention grabbing. With the visuals after watching the YouTube video also I was enlightened to focus on colorization and the right font size. I think that example used color well.
After reviewing this chart about gender pay gap I believe somethings that can be added to the charts to improve the distribution of the data being represented would be reference points that will highlight/emphasize the differences of pay in comparison of every dollar a man earns vs. women with variety of colors and boldness on key terms. The title is straight forward but could be more eye capturing and effective to get the point across to the audience. I believe what can be incorporated are data/axis labels that goes more into depth on the pay scale differences amongst men and women to go further into the job titles, qualifications what are these studies based on?
Color for the lines would add a lot to this chart as it would be much simpler and easier to distinguish what I exactly is being displayed that way. I also think the title for this graph is not the best, so something that illustrates better what is trying to be conveyed would be a more worthwhile title.
I think legends, labels, and colors are important in a chart that want to convey multiple things. So like a line graph showing 2-3 different lines would be different colors and have a label showing which line represents what with a legend showing that as well.