Monday, September 6, 2010

Guide to Statistical Charts

For those who produce reports that include various types of statistical data, you know the importance of graphically illustrating data. Most people readily understand data graphs than data tables.

The UK government has published a nice little guide on that sets out some principles and conventions for making statistical charts. The first part sets out some general principles to follow for any chart and then covers the default formatting used by the Social & General Statistics Section of the Library in the UK.


A chart works on visual and different analytical levels is open to greater interpretation. There are many more options to make a good graph or chart when blending chart type, colour, size, dimensions, labelling, scales etc. There are few rules, but the general principles highlighted in this paper help improve any graph or chart presentation and thus understanding.

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