Case-Based Critical Thinking Questions
Case 3-1

Column Chart Area Chart
Sarah has put together the same information in two different charts, shown in the figure above, to present to her boss. She is thinking through the pros and cons of each chart type.
-If Sarah wanted to focus on and display the percentage contribution that each category makes to the whole, which chart type would work best?
A) surface
B) pie
C) scatter
D) radar

Question

Case-Based Critical Thinking Questions
Case 3-1
  
Column Chart Area Chart
Sarah has put together the same information in two different charts, shown in the figure above, to present to her boss. She is thinking through the pros and cons of each chart type.
-If Sarah wanted to focus on and display the percentage contribution that each category makes to the whole, which chart type would work best?
A) surface 
B) pie 
C) scatter 
D) radar

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The best chart to display the percentage contribution of each category to the whole would be a pie chart. A pie chart is specifically designed to represent proportions of a whole, and it is easy to visually compare the size of each section in relation to the whole. The column and area charts presented here display absolute values and are better suited for comparing differences between categories rather than their percentage contribution to the whole. Surface and scatter charts are not appropriate for displaying categorical data.