LO3: Plotting and

Visualization

Python and Power BI-week7

By: Dr. Saleem Ramadan
Plotting and Visualization

Making informative visualizations (sometimes called plots) is one of the

most important tasks in data analysis. It may be a part of the exploratory
process—for example, to help identify outliers or needed data
transformations, or as a way of generating ideas for models. For others,
building an interactive visualization for the web may be the end goal.
Knowing the difference between various types of graphs and charts can
help you choose the best one for your project. In this presentation, we
discuss the most common charts and graphs in business and how they are
typically used.
Graphs and Charts

While many people use ‘graph’ and ‘chart’ interchangeably, they are
different visuals. Charts are tables, diagrams or pictures that organize
large amounts of data clearly and concisely(not just those based on x, y
coordinates) e.g. Pie chart, Bar chart, Gantt chart, and Flow chart . People
use charts to interpret data, make predictions, summarize and
communicate insights.
Graphs, however, focus on raw data and show patterns, trends,
correlations time-series data, and statistical relationships and
distributions. Graphs uses a coordinate system like x, y coordinates to
show numerical relationships. e.g. Line graph (chart), Scatter Plot, Area
graph (chart).
Line chart
Line chart (Run Chart in SPC) illustrates
how related data changes over a specific
period of time. One axis might display a
value, while the other axis shows the
timeline. Line charts are useful for
illustrating trends such as temperature
changes during certain dates. You should
use it when you graph a continuous data
set. They're also helpful for measuring
how different groups relate to each other.
You can use it to show many different
categories of data. E.g., a business might
use this graph to compare sales rates for
different products or services over time.
Used usually to visualize data in
forecasting analysis (Time series analysis)
Area chart:
An area chart is basically a line chart, but the
space between the x-axis and the line is filled
with a color or pattern. Area charts show a
change in one or more quantities over a certain
period of time. They often help when displaying
trends and patterns. Similar to a line chart, area
charts use dots connected by a line. However,
an area chart involves coloring between the line
and the horizontal axis. You can use several
lines and colors between each one to show how
multiple quantities add up to a whole. For
example, a retailer might use this method to
display the profits of different types of a
product over the same timeframe. They work
best for big differences between data sets and
help visualize big trends. The area betweentwo lines represents
the contribution of the second variable on top
of the first.
 How many variables
in this graph?
Bar chart

Bar charts offer a simple way to compare numeric

values of any kind, including inventories, group sizes
and financial predictions. Bar charts can be either
horizontal or vertical. One axis represents the
categories, while the other represents the value of
each category. The height or length of each bar
relates directly to its value. Marketing companies
often use bar graphs to display ratings and survey
responses. A bar chart should be used to avoid
confusion when one data label is long or if you have
more than 10 items to compare. Bar charts can help
you compare data between different groups or to
track changes over time. Bar charts are most useful
when there are big changes or to show how one
group compares against other groups. It uses
horizontal labels to improve readability.
For example, at the start of the pandemic, online
businesses saw a big jump in traffic. So, if you want
to look at monthly traffic for an online business, a bar
graph would make it easy to see that jump.
Column Chart
Use a column chart to show a comparison
among different items or to show a
comparison of items over time. You could
use this format to see the revenue per
landing page.
You can use both column charts and bar
charts to display changes in data, but
column charts are best for negative data.
The main difference, of course, is that
column charts show information vertically
while bar graphs show data horizontally.
For example, warehouses often track the
number of accidents on the shop floor. When
the number of incidents falls below the
monthly average, a column chart can make
that change easier to see in a presentation.
 Use this chart to compare many different items and
Stacked show the composition of each item you’re comparing.
Stacked bar charts are excellent for marketing. They
Bar Chart make it simple to add a lot of data on a single chart
or to make a point with limited space
Histogram
A histogram is another type of bar
chart that illustrates the distribution of
numeric data across ranges. People
often use histograms to illustrate
statistics (show the distribution). For
example, a histogram might display
how many people belong to a certain
weight range within a population
(distribution of weigh). The height or
length of each bar in the histogram
shows how many cattle are in each
range.
The area of the bar is the important
factor (width of interval times height)
Technically, is it a
chart or a graph
Bar chart vs
Histogram
• The difference between bar chart (column
chart) and histogram are:
• Bar chart (column chart) represents
categorical data, while histogram represents
numerical data.
• Bar chart has equal space between each pair
of bars, while histogram has no space
between the consecutive bars.
• Bar chart shows the frequency or value of
each category by the height of the bars,
while histogram shows the frequency or
value of each range by the area of the bars.
• Bar chart is used for comparison purposes,
while histogram is used for showing shape of
the distribution, outliers, averages, and
spread.
Dual-Axis Chart
A dual-axis chart allows you to plot data
using two y-axes and a shared x-axis. It
has two data sets. One is a continuous
data set, and the other is better suited to
grouping by category. Use this chart to
visualize a correlation or the lack thereof
between these two data sets.
A dual-axis chart makes it easy to see
relationships between different data sets.
They can also help with comparing trends.
For example, the chart shows how many
new customers this company brings in
each month. It also shows how much
revenue those customers are bringing the
company.
Scatter plot
Scatter plots use dots to depict the
relationship between two different
variables. Someone might use a scatter
plot to show the relationship between a
person’s height and weight, for example.
The process involves plotting one variable
along the horizontal axis and the other
variable along the vertical axis. The
resulting scatter plot demonstrates how
much one variable affects the other
(correlation).
If there is no correlation, the dots appear
in random places on the graph. If there is
a strong correlation, the dots are close Note: use scatter plot to show correlation
together and form a line through the between two different numeric variables. Use
graph. dual-axis chart to show correlation between
two different sets of data
Pictograph
A pictograph (pictogram) uses
pictures or symbols to display data
instead of bars. Each picture
represents a certain number of
items. Pictographs can be useful
when you want to display data in a
highly visual presentation such as an
infographic (information graphic) to
present complex ideas quickly,
clearly, and engagingly. For
example, you could use a picture of
a book to display how many books a
store sold over a period of a few
months
Flowchart
Flowcharts help organize the steps,
decisions or actions in a process
from beginning to end. They often
include more than one starting
point or endpoint, displaying
different paths you can take in a
process to get from start to finish.
People often use flowcharts to
depict complex situations. They
use special shapes to illustrate
different parts of the process, and
they typically include a legend to
explain what each shape means.
Pie chart
A pie chart presents the different parts of
a whole. It looks like a circle divided into
many pieces, much like a pie cut into
slices. The pieces are different sizes
based on how much of the whole they
represent. Each piece usually has a label
to represent its value compared to the
whole. Professionals can use pie charts in
business presentations to demonstrate
population segments, market research
responses, market share, and budget
allocations. A pie chart may present
numbers or percentages. The total sum
of all segments needs to equal 100% or
total number
Gantt chart
Gantt charts illustrate project
schedules. The horizontal axis
represents the timeframe for the
project in days, weeks, months or
years. The chart displays each
project task as a bar on the
vertical axis. The length of the
bar depends on the start and end
date of the task. Project
managers use Gantt charts to
monitor the progress and
completion status of each task.
Waterfall chart

Waterfall charts reflect variance over

time. They demonstrate both the
positive and negative impact of
different factors on an initial value,
such as an opening balance. Waterfall
charts are helpful when illustrating
financial statements, analyzing profit
and loss and comparing earnings. You
might use this chart to highlight the
budget versus the amount spent.
Positive and negative values usually
follow a color code to show how the
value increases or decreases due to a
series of changes over time.
 Bubble Chart

A bubble chart is a variation of a scatter plot in

which the data points are replaced with
bubbles, and an additional dimension of the
data is represented in the size of the bubbles.
Just like a scatter plot, a bubble chart does not
use a category axis — both horizontal and
vertical axes are value axes. In addition to the x
values and y values that are plotted in a scatter
plot, a bubble chart plots x values, y values,
and z (size) values. The three variables are: y-
axis Sales, x-axis number of products sold, the
size represents the percentage of market share
•X-axis = numeric variable
•Y-axis = numeric variable
•Bubble size = represents a third numeric variable
•Color (optional) = fourth variable (category or magnitude)
Dashboard
A dashboard is a way of displaying
various types of visual data in one
place. Usually, a dashboard is intended
to convey different, but related
information in an easy-to-digest form.
And oftentimes, this includes things
like key performance indicators (KPI)s
or other important business metrics
that stakeholders need to see and
understand immediately.
Dashboards often use common
visualization tools such as graphs,
charts, and tables.
5 Questions to Ask When Deciding
Which Type of chart or graph to Use

1. Do you want to compare values?

Charts and graphs are perfect for comparing one or many value sets,
and they can easily show the low and high values in the data sets. To
create a comparison chart, use these types of graphs:
1. Column chart
2. Bar chart
3. Pie chart
4. Line chart
5 Questions to Ask When Deciding
Which Type of chart or graph to Use

2. Do you want to show the composition of something?

Use this type of chart to show how individual parts make up the whole of
something, like total sales broken down by sales rep. To show
composition, use these charts:
1. Pie chart
2. Area chart
3. Waterfall chart
4. Stacked bar chart
5 Questions to Ask When Deciding
Which Type of chart or graph to Use

3. Do you want to understand the distribution of your data?

Distribution charts help you to understand outliers, the normal
tendency, and the range of information in your values. Use these charts
to show distribution:
1. Scatter plot
2. Line chart
3. Column chart
4. Bar chart
5. Histogram
5 Questions to Ask When Deciding
Which Type of chart or graph to Use

4. Are you interested in analyzing trends in your data set over

time?
If you want more information about how a data set performed during a
specific time, there are specific chart types that do extremely well. You
should choose one of the following:
1. Line chart
2. Dual-axis line chart
3. Column
5 Questions to Ask When Deciding
Which Type of chart or graph to Use

5. Do you want to better understand the relationship between

value sets?
Relationship charts can show how one variable relates to one or many
different variables. You could use this to show how something positively
affects, has no effect, or negatively affects another variable. When
trying to establish the relationship between things, use these charts:
1. Scatter plot
2. Bubble chart
3. Line chart
 5 Questions to Ask When Deciding Which Type of
chart or graph to Use

Chart/Plot X-axis Y-axis Best used for …

Line graph Timeline Continuous numeric values data changes over a specific period of time. Use to show: Trends, Compare,
Distributions, Relationships, Compositions.
Area chart Timeline Continuous numeric values for different categories (data sets) big differences between and help visualize big trends. Use to show:
Compositions.
Bar chart category Numeric (counts, percentages, Sales,.. Bar graphs are most useful when there are big changes or to show how one
group compares against other groups. Use to show: Compare, Distributions,

Column Chart category Numeric (counts, percentages, Sales,.. but column charts are best for negative data. Use to show: Trends, Compare,
Distributions.
Stacked Bar Chart category Numeric (counts, percentages, Sales,.. compare many different items and show the composition of each item you’re
comparing. Use to show: Compare, Compositions.
Histogram range values illustrate statistics: Use to show: Distributions.
Dual-Axis Chart Shared x-axis Two datasets one numeric and the other categorical to visualize a correlation or the lack thereof between these two data sets. Use
to show: Trends.
Scatter plot numeric numeric how much one variable affects the other. Use to show: Compare,
Distributions, Relationships.
Pictograph category Numeric (counts, percentages, Sales,..) display data in a highly visual presentation
Flowchart NA NA help organize the steps
Pie chart NA NA presents the different parts of a whole (Categorical/Numerical). Use to show:
Compare, Compositions.
Gantt chart Timeline Tasks length of the bar depends on the start and end date of the task (Duration of
the task)
Waterfall chart category Numeric (counts, percentages, Sales,..) reflect variance over time. Use to show: Compositions.

Bubble Chart numeric Numeric. A third numerical variable represented by size) Show relation between three numerical variables. Use to show: Relationships.

Dashboard NA NA dashboard is intended to convey different, but related information in an easy-

to-digest form