Today lets close some gaps.
Recently I saw this interesting chart on Economist Daily Charts page. This chart is based on World Economic Forum’s survey on how women compare to men in terms of various development parameters. First take a look at the chart prepared by Economist team.
So what are the gaps in this chart?
This chart fails to communicate because,
- All country charts look same, thus making it difficult to spot any deviations.
- We cannot quickly compare one country with another on any particular indicator.
- It does not provide a better context (for eg. how did these countries perform last year?)
But criticizing someone’s work is not awesome. Fixing it and making an even better chart, that has awesome written all over it. So that is what we are going to do.
Fixing the gaps in Gender Equality chart
First take a look at the improved chart. Play below video.
Step 1: Getting the data for this chart
Although folks at Economist have not included source data, the good people at WEF have provided detailed PDF reports (2013, 2012) where all the data is naked and waiting for us, analyst to pounce and go nuts.
I copy pasted table in to Excel.
While 2012 data loaded alright, 2013 loaded in a weird fashion.
So we move to step 2.
Step 2: Cleaning the data
I feel dirty every time I clean a piece of data 😉
But I also like it (cleaning part, not feeling dirty part). I learn some techniques when I am working with messy, sticky and disorganized data sets.
The 2013 data is pasted in to Excel in this format.
From this, we need to transform our data to:
If we know magic, we could point our wand at the table and say something like, Mobiliarbus Datum.
Alas. We are muggles. So lets rely on the most potent magic we know: Excel formulas. Using INDEX + MATCH combination, we can easily convert 2013 data to the format we want.
The actual formula to fetch overall rank (2nd item in the list for each country) is,
=INDEX(gaps2013,MATCH($B5,gaps2013,0)+1)
Explanation:
- gaps2013 is the range where all the 2013 gender gap survey data is copied
- B5 contains the name of the country for which we want the data.
- +1 because we want to get rank, not country name.
For more, read how to get VLOOKUP + 1 item.
Step 3: Set up form controls
Now that we have sparkling clean data, lets create necessary form controls on our output sheet.
We need 2 controls.
- A combo-box (drop-down) control so that user can select what field to sort the report on.
- A set of option buttons to specify which average to compare.
The combo-box is set up to use the list of values shown aside.
Related: Introduction to Excel Form Controls.
Lets link these to 2 cells, named sortCol & avgType on a different sheet. Call this sheet as calculations. All our formulas will go here.
Step 4: Find sort order based on the selected column
This is the tricky part. I am going to give highlights here and point you to a link where you can learn more.
- Fetch the column we want to sort in a range of cells.
If sorting a number column:
- Make the column unique by adding a very small running fraction.
- This ensures that if our data has duplicates, still our formula works.
- Find the sort order of each item using RANK() formula.
- Refer to Sorting KPIs using Formulas article for more on this technique.
If sorting a text column:
- Find the sort order using COUNTIF() formula.
- Refer to sorting text using formulas article.
Step 5: Re-arrange all data in the sort order
Using INDEX formula, rearrange all data according to the sort order.
Step 6: Calculate % change values
Based on 2012 & 2013 scores, calculate % change and place them in the last 5 columns.
Step 7: Calculate averages
Calculate averages (both G20 & all country values) for all the columns and place them somewhere on your calculations worksheet.
Related: Calculating the average of every nth item.
Step 8: Create charts
Here is the process for creating chart for Overall Score (2013). The same process is used to create all the charts.
- Select all the numbers in overall score column.
- Create a bar chart
- Select vertical axis and press CTRL+1 to format it.
- Select “Categories in reverse order.”
- Adjust series gap to 25%
- Set horizontal axis min to 0 and max to 1 and remove the axis.
- Remove vertical axis, grid lines
- Remove title
- Fill chart background & plot background with no color.
- Set chart outline to no outline.
- And you are done!
See the demo aside to understand the process.
Step 9: Add average as secondary series to the chart
Calculate which average to use in the chart based on the avgType value. And fetch that number to a cell.
Now add average to the chart as a line. This can be done by,
- Adding average point to the chart as second series
- Converting this series to scatter (XY) plot.
- Adjusting the X & Y values of the average point.
- Adding 100% positive (or negative) error bar
- Formatting the error bar to make it look like a line.
- Removing any axis, grid lines added in the process.
Step 10: Oh wow, this is getting long. Have a coffee
I guess this is now a fairly long process. But closing gender gaps (or gaps in the gender gap chart) is never easy. So have a cup of coffee or tea. Rejuvenate and come back.
Step 11: Create all other charts
Follow the same process and create rest of the charts.
One easy way to create rest of the charts is,
- Copy the first chart and paste it elsewhere.
- Select the bars and edit the range address in the formula bar.
- Select the average point and edit that too.
- Adjust axis if needed.
- And you are done!
Step 12: Put everything together
Create a nice table like structure in your output tab and put everything together. Re-size and position the charts as needed. Make sure the colors are nice. Add conditional formatting to highlight column being sorted and you are done!
Missing Steps
I have deliberately omitted a few steps in this process to keep it simple. For those of you with a keen eye:
- Using conditional formatting data bars for the % change column.
- Turning on / off last column in the report based on sort selection using conditional formatting.
- Adding data labels to the country names based on the sort selection.
Download this Excel chart
Click here to download this Excel chart. Play with it. Explore the chart settings, formats, formulas and controls to understand it better.
Conclusions – What does the Gender Inequality Chart say?
After all this analysis, 2 things are clear.
- In most countries, women have high equality with men when it comes to health or education.
- The real gap seems to be in politics & economical development of women.
While this may seem like common sense, it also means, World Economic Forum people should measure inequality on some more parameters. There is little point tracking and analyzing indicators related to health or education (especially in OECD or Western countries).
What do you think?
Want to fill gaps in your Excel knowledge
While no one appreciates gender inequality, we all love awesomeness inequality. There is nothing wrong in wanting to be more awesome than your peers. And here is how you can be unmatched…
- Using Panel charts to understand data
- Spot matrix charts – alternative to radars
- Analyzing performance of stocks using charts
- Suicides & Murders data – interactive analysis
- Visualizing world education rankings
- Survey data analysis with in-cell charts
Want some challenge… How would you analyze this data?
If you want some challenge, go ahead and download the file. It has all the data for 2012 & 2013. Analyze it and share with me your charts. You can email me at chandoo.d@gmail.com or upload your files somewhere and post the links in comments. I would love to see how you can analyze and present this data.
39 Responses to “Some charts try to make you an April fool all the time (or why 3d pie charts are evil)”
Another little trick they've used in that pie chart is in the positioning of the car sales in relation to each other. The way in which you present them in the column chart is from highest seller to lowest seller, left to right, which is what we're used to seeing. But in the dastardly pie chart, the two smallest selling cars (the SX4 and the Scala) are placed one either side of the Verna, which serves to make it look bigger again.
Also the perspective at which you look at the pie chart makes the Verna look bigger. From my experimintation, a perspective of around 35-37 degrees makes it look like an even bigger slice, which appears to be what the advertiser has done.
All of this manipulation would make you think of the "photoshopping" or "air-brushing" that is done on photos of models, film stars, and so on, in magazines, to give them the unattainable looks, skin, shape, etc., etc., that many aspire to, but can never reach.
This post is quite the learning experience, thanks very much.
please help!!!! im taking a computer class at SPC in clearwater. i have an excel worksheet to turn in and my pie charts are just blank no pie at all, all the other charts are working but i need #D pie chart can anyone help me to restore the 3D Pie chart??? Emergency
@Amanda
Select the Chart
Right Click it
Change Chart Type
Select a 3D Pie chart type
This is a great example of why I do not like pie charts.
I promise to never make a 3d pie chart. If I ever see one, I promise to not rotate or explode it. I also promise to create alternative charts (usually column, bar, line or scatter plots) so that my audience can see the truth better.
And oh yeah, I promise to bake & eat pies whenever possible. Apart from cakes, pastries, ice creams, biscuits and other assorted fun foods that is.
signed David Onder
Reminds me of the quote ... statistics are like bikinis ... what they reveal is suggestive, what they conceal is vital.
I love that Quote and you are so right, now to get the upper management to understand that!!!
Oh .. and wont it be awesome if u can create a quick decision tree tool for jo so that she can buy shoes :p ... perhaps link it to jabong.com or flipkart.com account and boom ... a spreadsheet shopping tool!
There are a only two acceptable pie charts: actual pie and cheesecake.
My own commitment to the truth is to incorporate pereto graphs (Few, 2006) into most of my bar/column graphs. The pereto is activated by a non-printing check box form control. This method has proven its worth on a number of occasions when presenting data and demonstrating its integrity when challenged - Also gets a kudos point from the boss for foresight, preparedness and professionalism :-).
Leonk
Hi Leon,
Can you elaborate? I'm aware of pareto as the 80/20 rule what do you mean by you "include" it?
@JungleJme
A Pareto Chart is a Ranked Column chart
With the column of the highest Rank occurring at the left and the Smallest column at the right
It highlights the issues with most impact easily
Have a read of: http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/09/02/pareto-charts/
A little part of me dies inside whenever I see presentations from upper level technical management that includes exploded 3D pie charts.
I promise to never make a 3d pie chart. If I ever see one, I promise to not rotate or explode it. I also promise to create alternative charts (usually column, bar, line or scatter plots) so that my audience can see the truth better.And oh yeah, I promise to bake & eat pies whenever possible. Apart from cakes, pastries, ice creams, biscuits and other assorted fun foods that is.signed Luke M
So if the goal is to mislead, 3-D pie charts are great. There is a use for everything.
Definitely agree with you. They did the appropriate thing as a marketing scheme. The chart is not "wrong" in any way, just misleading to the eye.
I think it's an excellent ploy.
I think these are an excellent display of the versatility of storytelling that is allowed by the champion of charts, the pie. Great work Chandoo. See my site for some further examples of effectively working with pie charts. eagerpies.com
Well done Chandoo, all points clearly made; I'd add that there are lies, damned lies, statistics, pie charts and tweaked pie charts.
I never recommend a pie chart but some of my custoners are so stupi are sure their requirements are correct. And the customer is always right (when he is the boss). So no pledge but lots of support.
When I teach charts I ask what is the purpose of charts? Fairly sharp students talk about information over data. The purpose is to make better decisions happen. The accuracy is essential, the usability is essential, but the real gain is when the manager sees what to do to make the figures better.
Why do you have strikethru option in replies that is visble when editing but lost when posted? Of course is this does show a strikethru I must have got it wrong; let's see..
... no thought not. Register aplea for strikethru to work. Thanks
Hand on experience, thank you for sharing this.
My favourite (if that's the right word) is Stve Jobs at
http://www.myspace.com/crazyalaskandude/photos/30206354
Some people must be assumed to know better, in which case it must be intentional.
There's a classic book called How to Lie with Statistics, and another called How to Lie with Maps. Time for How to Lie with Charts?
A time and a place for everything, in my opinion. E.g. pie charts are good for communicating specific things to a wide and general audience, because everyone feels comfortable with the form at least.
3D pie charts are good for giving the appearance of analysis to people who wouldn't read them anyway.
In Excel, I use flattened 3D pie charts because they let me control the rotation of the chart to put the most important slices where I want them. That said, I don't use pie charts very often because my audience doesn't demand them
Sorry, but all kind of 3d stuff is horrible! Better, let's back a pie!
Sorry, but all kind of 3d chart stuff is horrible! Better, let's back a pie!
Ha Ha you are right, but why 3D on a flat screen that doesn't work I think and in the end it's all about the data right..
Call this the chandoo effect!!! Did u check out the same advertisement with a different type of chart in yesterdays newspapers??? Even the marketing managers listen to chandoo.
I've always disliked pie charts for this reason and exploded 3d pie charts makes a liar out of their creators. its like the old man and his fish story.... I promise to never make a 3d pie chart (unless its as a joke). If I ever see one, I promise to not rotate or explode it. I also promise to create alternative charts (usually column, bar, line or scatter plots) so that my audience can see the truth better.
And oh yeah, I promise to bake & eat pies whenever possible. Apart from cakes, pastries, ice creams, biscuits and other assorted fun foods that is.
I teach mathematics at high school, and this article will now feature as a regular teaching tool in the topic Misleading Graphs. Thank you.
...and along those lines, I realise I need to create more exploded 3D pie charts, more over-formatted graphs and more line graphs for categorical data to demonstrate poor graph choice.
...and the staircase graph is even worse than the 3D pie chart. When you analyse it in terms of the amount of yellow on the graph compared to any other colour - particularly green which was second - it appears that Verna holds at least 50% market share.
I ran through this graph as a lesson on Misuse of Graphs. We placed a 5mm grid over the image of the graph and counted the squares. The image is 58% yellow. This surprised the students because they were analysing the chart and interpreting it as about 40%. I remarked that the 58% yellow was influencing their judgement. It was a very good lesson.
Thanks for this great teaching resource.
For most practical reasons, I believe there is no need to use a 3D chart unless a Z-axis is needed for your data -- and pie charts need not be 3D since they don't need to show any axis!
Your method of telling the whole thing in this paragraph is genuinely good, every one be capable of simply
understand it, Thanks a lot.
I agree about pie charts. I didn't recognize the name "Verna" so I had to Google it: Hyundai sells the same car in the US as the "Accent."
I cant stand 3d pie charts. 2d ones are bad enough. And im my opinion the staircase chart is even worse. Note that with the verna we see two sides which gives it a visible width on the page/screen about three times as wide as the second highest scoring one, where we can only see one side of it.
However, I won't make the promise. Whilst I think acurate representation of stats is a morale obligation of those who need to present impartial data, you have to admire the marketing team for not missing a single trick.
Unfortunately with slick charts with the lighting and 3d effects, it makes acurate flat charts look boring and unprofessional to the uniformed 90% who view style over substance.
As an example of this, I was reading information packs from vendors, and out of the dozen or so, not a single one had flat charts....
Hi, Chandoo!
Can we download some chart template like in your post? ))
It is really pretty.
[…] Ah good day to my Tableau disciples. Peace be with you. May your day be free of exploding 3D pie charts… […]
[…] ovšem uvádí Chandoo, kolá?ové grafy lze naproti tomu dob?e využít k manipulaci. Linkovaný p?íklad s videem […]
[…] Even people who have the best of intentions create graphics that mislead just because they don’t know about statistics, they don’t know about logic, they about the principles of visualization. It’s not their fault, just like it was not my fault 10 or 15 years ago. Nobody had educated me. It was only through the process of reading books, studying, and learning from other people that I discovered the many mistakes that I’d made in the past, for example, creating 3D pie charts. […]
I think if the point is to create BS, everything should be not only in 3d but in 4d!
4d FTW
[…] makes it very difficult to visually compare data. A good example of how misleading a 3-D charts can be found here. Less is more. Make your visualizations as simple and clean as possible, it makes them much easier […]