Composition visualizations are used to illustrate how certain variable classifications contribute to the who dataset. These visualizations rely on segmentation to show the proportion or percentages that a specific category represents of all categories together. Popular charts include pie charts, stacked bar charts, and area charts.
Usage Notes: Doughnut charts can be used to show composition of a whole. It is generally the same in function as a pie chart though it has the advantage of being able to display more variables since the cluttered center doesn;t distract from the display.
Also see: Pie chart
Usage Notes: The Marimekko, also known as a 'Mekko' chart, is designed to visualize data across three dimensions. These dimensions can encompass a blend of either two numeric and one categorical variable or two categorical and one numeric variable. Mekko charts excel at comparing categorical data, especially when the number of categories is limited. When the x-axis is a numeric variable like a percentage the widths of the column can be varied to represent proportion.
See also: tree graph, stacked bar chart.
Usage Notes: Stacked bar charts are used to compare magnitudes of categorical data. Bar charts are often presented vertically, though a a horizontal chart may be preferable when the label is very long, when included in a dashboard where the direction or reading is from left to right, or when the data represent ranked categories. Can be used to visualize distribution as well.
See also: Histogram, Bullet chart, Marimekko chart, Multi-set bar chart, Span chart, Radial bar chart, Population pyramid
Treemaps are used to visualize hierarchical data with nested rectangles. The size of each rectangle represents its proportion of the whole. These visualizations are often used to show economic activity like production and exports.
See also: Histogram, Stacked bar chart, Marimekko chart
