A Practical Guide to Graphics Reporting

CHAPTERSEVEN

Charts, Tables & Text-Based Graphics

 

Abstract graphs and charts, along with the beginnings of statistical theory and the systematic collection of empirical data, were introduced to mathematics during the Eighteenth Century. And as the collection of economic, political and census data became more common, visual forms of presentation that allowed the data to “speak to the eyes” also became more prevalent. First con-ceptualized in the late 1700s by William Playfair, a Scottish architect, pie charts and bar charts use geometric shapes to metaphorically represent statistical concepts. Pie charts, for example, use sections of circles to represent parts of a whole amount. Bar charts, on the other hand, use rectangular shapes to represent ...