The bar chart shows shares of expenditures for five major categories in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan in the year 2009. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Bar Chart It is common in the IELTS Writing paper to be asked to describe a bar graph. Bar graphs, also known as bar charts, are similar to line graphs in that they have two axes and are useful for showing how something has changed over a given period of time, especially when there are significant changes.
You will use a line chart when you want to emphasize changes in values for one variable (plotted on the vertical axis) for continuous values of a second variable (plotted on the horizontal). This emphasis on patterns of change is sold by line segments moving consistently from left to right and observing the slopes of the lines moving up or down.
Left: Bar chart over categorical groups. Right: Bar chart over temporal groups. Another chart type we can use when the horizontal axis variable is categorical is the dot plot, or Cleveland dot plot. The dot plot is like a line plot, except that there are no line segments connecting consecutive points.
. . . a Line graph. Line graphs are used to track changes over short and long periods of time. When smaller changes exist, line graphs are better to use than bar graphs. Line graphs can also be used to compare changes over the same period of time for more than one group.
Categorical or nominal data: appropriate for bar charts Bar charts make sense for categorical or nominal data, since they are measured on a scale with specific possible values.
The column chart is probably the most used chart type. This chart is best used to compare different values when specific values are important, and it is expected that users will look up and compare individual values between each column.
line graphA line graph is the simplest way to represent time series data. It is intuitive, easy to create, and helps the viewer get a quick sense of how something has changed over time.
A line graph is commonly used to display change over time as a series of data points connected by straight line segments on two axes. The line graph therefore helps to determine the relationship between two sets of values, with one data set always being dependent on the other set.
Line graphs are used to track changes over different periods of time. Line graphs can also be used as a tool for comparison: to compare changes over the same period of time for more than one group.
If you want to compare values, use a pie chart — for relative comparison — or bar charts — for precise comparison. If you want to compare volumes, use an area chart or a bubble chart. If you want to show trends and patterns in your data, use a line chart, bar chart, or scatter plot.
Bar charts usually present categorical variables, discrete variables or continuous variables grouped in class intervals. They consist of an axis and a series of labelled horizontal or vertical bars. The bars depict frequencies of different values of a variable or simply the different values themselves.
Scatter plotsScatter plots are best for showing distribution in large data sets.
Histograms visualize quantitative data or numerical data, whereas bar charts display categorical variables. In most instances, the numerical data in a histogram will be continuous (having infinite values). Attempting to display all possible values of a continuous variable along an axis would be foolish.
Frequency tables, pie charts, and bar charts are the most appropriate graphical displays for categorical variables.
Bar Graph is the answer.