Exploring Composition Snapshots – Stacked Bar Charts

A stacked bar chart is nothing but a bar chart with an extra level of detail embedded in the bars, where each bar represents distinct dimensions/values. Stacked bar charts come in handy when you want to compare the whole to a segment of the dimensions/value, which are essentially smaller segments of the same bar. Think of the revenue generated by a car company: as an analyst, you want to show the revenue split by car/product type in a single bar graph without using too much space. By color-coding the bar chart with the car type, you can create a single graph with lots of contextual detail.

Think of stacked bar charts as showing totals against parts:

Figure 4.32: Sample stacked bar chart

Try your hand at creating a stacked bar chart with the next exercise.

Exercise 4.06: Creating a Stacked Bar Chart

In this new request from your direct manager, they want to look at sales by sub-category in...