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Visual AnalyticsChoosing the right chartStep 4 of 23
The real words

Goal 3: show composition

Bar chart sorted by contribution is the first choice for the composition of one entity.

Stacked bar shows the composition of several categories; stacked column shows composition over a time series.

Treemap shows composition when the categories are hierarchical, for instance brands inside industry sectors.

Waterfall shows how a quantitative variable is built up over time or category, and funnel shows a progression from larger to smaller values through nested stages.