Why do people often present data in a chart instead of a long table of values?
A chart shows the data as a picture, making it easier to compare
A column chart shows how many books each year group read. The columns are labelled and the scale is clear, but readers cannot tell what the chart is about. What is missing?
A title
A line graph shows values from 0 to 50 on the vertical axis, but no label says what those numbers measure. Why is this a problem?
The reader cannot tell what the values represent
A chart of house prices has a vertical axis that starts at 200,000 instead of 0. Why can this mislead the reader?
A small rise can look like a huge rise
A student records the temperature in a greenhouse every hour for one day. The teacher wants to show the pattern across the day. Which chart is best?
A line graph, as it shows how a value changes over time
A class votes for a new after-school club. The teacher wants to show each club as a share of the total votes. Which chart is best?
A pie chart, as it divides a total into parts
A gardener measures the height of five different plants once. The heights are not shares of a whole. Which chart best compares the five heights?
A bar chart, as the plants are separate categories
A chart has already been created from the data in a spreadsheet. Where do you change the colour of the bars and add axis titles?
In the chart editing options
A chart has been created from the results of a pivot table. What happens to the chart when a filter is applied to the pivot table?
The chart changes to show only the filtered data
A bar chart shows the favourite sport of each year group, but the bars are not labelled. Why is this a problem?
The reader cannot tell which sport each bar shows
A line graph has a vertical axis showing 0, 37, 74, 111 and 148. Why is this a poor scale?
The values are awkward to read from the graph
Why should the column headings be included when you select the data for a chart?
So the chart labels each set of values with its name
A student wants a pie chart showing how the total holiday spending is split between two groups. Which values should the pie chart use?
The total spending of each group
Which term describes the chart type that is used to compare separate categories, such as the number of bookings for each holiday type?
Bar chart
What is meant by 'pie chart'?
A chart where a circle is divided into slices to show parts of a whole
What is the name for the text placed at the top of a graph to tell the reader what the graph shows?
Title
What is meant by 'line graph'?
A graph that shows how values change over time
What is the name for a graph problem where the y-axis does not start at zero, so a small rise looks like a huge increase?
Misleading scale
A chart has been created from spreadsheet data. Which setting is used to change it from a column chart into a pie chart?
Chart type
What is meant by the scale on a graph?
The set of numbers marked along an axis
What is meant by an axis label on a graph?
Text that says what an axis measures
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