Line Charts or ?

[SD]

Hello All,

Thinking ways on how to create charts for the following data ... I
mean , if I use line charts , its all over the place, which would be
the best chart for this kind of data, so that it effectively comes out
nicely ? Should we just take off value of A which are greater than
100% and mention that in the side ? Any help would be appreciated .

thanks
SD


Qtr1 2005 Qtr2 2005 Qtr3 2005 Qtr4 2005 Qtr1 2009 Qtr2
2009 Qtr3 2009
A 185% 150% 100% 108% 23% 10% -1%
B 0% -3% -2% 2% 11% 4% 4%
C 2% -5% -5% -1% 10% 1% -2%
D -18% -15% -19% -17% 13% 9% 2%
E 4% 7% -5% -7% -15% -19% -18%
F 8% 12% 4% 8% 16% 8% 11%
Market -3% 0% -3% -1% 7% 2% -3%

 

[Jon Peltier]

Sometimes it takes more that a single chart to show the data clearly.
You could show your data with two line charts, both showing all of the
series. One chart has a Y axis of -25% to +200%, the other -25% to +25%.

- Jon

 

[Luke M]

Without knowing more about the nature of the data, I'll assume that you are
wanting to display all the data together. If the values/sizes in each quarter
is whats important, you could try a clustered column chart. If comparing
trends is your goal, I'd go with a line chart, but consider moving series A
to the secondary axis. For clarity, you might change the format of series A
(perhaps increase marker size and have no line?)

Doing this, it appears series A follows the same trend shape as E, while
series D seems to lag during the first 4 quarters and then jumps up to join
the other 4 series.

Again, it really depends on what the goal/message you're trying to convey
is. I would recommend reading some of Jon Peltier's posts for some detailed
looks at various charts.

http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/