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Home > Blog > Data Visualizations >

What is the Purpose of a Graph in Stories?

You’ll agree we interpret visual content faster than words and numbers.

Scientific researches show that our brains interpret visual content, such as charts, graphs, and maps, 60,000 times faster than texts and figures.

what is the purpose of a graph?

Visualization charts play a critical role in today’s businesses by empowering data-backed decisions and providing insights for continuous improvement.

You need charts and graphs for your story to be credible and compelling. Besides, you need tools to help you access charts.

Excel is arguably among the most-used data visualization tools. It has been there for a long time and is familiar to many. But to generate readymade graphs for your stories, you’ve got to think beyond the Excel spreadsheet.

Why?

The spreadsheet tool produces very basic charts that require extra time and effort to edit. However, you don’t have to do away with Excel. You can transform it into a reliable data visualization tool by installing third-party applications (add-ins).

In this blog, you’ll learn:

  • What is the Purpose of a Graph in Data Narratives?
  • What is a Graph?
  • When was the Graph First Used?
  • What do Graphs Tell Us?
  • Top 6 Categories of Charts and Graphs for Your Stories
  • Which Tool Provides You With All The 6 Categories Of Charts And Graphs?
  • Wrap Up

What is the Purpose of a Graph in Data Narratives?

Before we delve right into the meaty part of the blog post, let go through a couple of definitions.

What is a Graph?

Graphs are used to illustrate relationships in your data visually. The importance of graphs and charts, especially during data analysis, cannot be ignored.

Visualization graphs act as the bridge between raw data and insights. You can use them to display relationships, trends, and outliers that exist in your data.

When was the Graph First Used?

The first graph is attributed to the 19th-century Englishman James Sylvester, one of the pioneer mathematicians interested in visualization.

What do Graphs Tell Us?

Graphs are visual representations used to display patterns, trends, and relationships of key metrics in raw data. A graph shows this information by representing it as a shape.

Top 6 Categories of Charts and Graphs for Your Stories

There’re 6 main categories of visualization designs you can use for your stories, namely:

  • Sankey Chart
  • Sentiment Analysis Charts
  • Comparative Analysis Charts
  • Specialized Survey Charts
  • General Analysis Charts
  • Pareto Charts

In the coming sections, we’ll use a chart from mentioned categories (above) in examples.

Which Tool Provides You With All The 6 Categories Of Charts And Graphs?

What is the purpose of a graph? To address the aforementioned questions, you also have to think about tools.

Yes, you read that right.

You cannot separate graphs from tools. You need an intuitive tool that’s loaded with ready-made charts. Excel is not the tool we’re talking about in this context.

Why?

Excel comes with pretty basic charts and graphs, which require additional time to edit. Besides, its library has a limited number of charts, graphs, and maps.  In today’s business landscape, the importance of graphs and charts cannot be stressed enough. You need a tool that can help you harness insights into your data efficiently and faster.

Here’s the deal.

You can transform your Excel into a visualization juggernaut by installing add-ins.

The add-in we’ve tested rigorously and recommend to you is ChartExpo.

ChartExpo is a cloud-hosted add-in that transforms your Excel spreadsheet app into a highly responsive data visualization tool.

What is the purpose of a graph? ChartExpo answers the aforementioned question by providing you with unlimited access to ready-made and visually appealing charts for your stories.

what is the purpose of a graph?what is the purpose of a graph?

How to Install ChartExpo in Excel?

You can follow the guide on ChartExpo for Excel add-in for installation purposes. Once it is installed successfully you can find the add-in in Excel by going to the insert menu and clicking on My Apps.

what is the purpose of a graph?

You will find below screen and you can click select the ChartExpo and click on Insert.

what is the purpose of a graph?

If you are not already logged-in, it may ask you for the log-in for the first time. Otherwise you will be able to see the list of charts as shown below.

what is the purpose of a graph?

Example #1 Sankey Chart

In this example, we’ll use Sankey Chart to visualize the tabular data below.

Income Budget Expense Mean Spent On Spending
Simon Budget Budget Expenses Auto Charity 100
Simon Budget Budget Expenses Mortgages on 2 Houses 2,250
Simon Budget Budget Expenses Dining Out and Groceries 1,358
Simon Budget Budget Expenses Property Taxes 2 Houses 1,010
Simon Budget Budget Expenses Utilities & House Cleaning 952
His Wife Budget Budget Expenses Parking and Car Expenses 689
His Wife Budget Budget Expenses Life Ins and Child Care 491
His Wife Budget Budget Expenses Insurance Life and House 304
His Wife Budget Account Leftover 3,800
His Wife Budget Saving and Retirement Dividend Reinvestment 500
Passive Budget Saving and Retirement Automatic Cash Savings 1,900
Passive Budget Saving and Retirement Retirement 1,911
Passive Budget Saving and Retirement HSA 360
Passive Budget Saving and Retirement Deferred Compensation 300
Passive Budget Saving and Retirement I-Bond 100
  • You can copy the above table into an Excel sheet and then from the ChartExpo add-in you can find Sankey Chart.
what is the purpose of a graph?
  • Select al the columns and rows in sheet which is holding the data and then click on Create Chart From Selection.
what is the purpose of a graph?
  • You can change the chart properties to add header and properties and can have the final look as shown below.
what is the purpose of a graph?

Insights

  • Simon accounts for 37% of the aggregate monthly income, while his wife accounts for 38%.
  • Conversely, passive income accounts for 25% of the total monthly cash generated by the couple.
  • Expenses take a whopping 47% of the income earned by the couple.

Example #2: Sentiment Analysis Charts Category

In this example, we’ll use the Sentiment Trend Chart (which belongs to the Sentiment Trend Chart category) to visualize the data set below.

So here we go.

Month Positive Count Negative Count
Jan 3000 500
Feb 4500 1200
Mar 5571 1624
Apr 4059 1545
May 4655 1876
Jun 4366 2173
Jul 4417 1698
Aug 3863 1321
Sep 2600 200
Oct 3300 1200
Nov 4200 677
Dec 4500 800
  • Paste this data into Excel and find Sentiment Trend Chart in the list and click on it.
what is the purpose of a graph?

You can now select all the columns and rows from the sheets in which data is present and click on Create Chart From Selection.

what is the purpose of a graph?

Check out the final Sentiment Trend Chart as shown below:

what is the purpose of a graph?

Insights:

  • August has the lowest positive sentiment. On the other hand, March has the highest positive sentiment.

What is the purpose of a graph? Continue reading to get in-depth information about the importance of graphs and charts in your stories.

what is the purpose of a graph?what is the purpose of a graph?

Example #3: Comparative Analysis Charts Category

In this example, we’ll use the Comparison Bar Chart (which belongs to Comparative Analysis Charts Category) to visualize the data set below.

So here we go.

Year Store Items Sales Order
2018 K2 Southern Style Sauce 700
2018 Turkish Taffy Vanilla 500
2018 Turkish Taffy Strawberry 380
2018 Jimmie Stix 600
2018 Root Beer Barrels Candy 600
2018 Maple Beef Jerky 400
2018 Zachary Mello Crème Candy Corn 800
2018 Goetze’s Caramel Cream 800
2018 Rada Cutlery Popcorn on the cob 600
2018 Burning Asphalt Bourbon Beacon Ketchup 400
2018 Classic Country Gravy Mix 380
2018 Tuttorosso Marinara Pasta Sauce 800
2018 Tuttorosso Marinara Pasta Sauce Tomato 400
2018 Tuttorosso Marinara Traditional Sauce 700
2019 K2 Southern Style Sauce 370
2019 Turkish Taffy Vanilla 350
2019 Turkish Taffy Strawberry 450
2019 Jimmie Stix 350
2019 Root Beer Barrels Candy 800
2019 Maple Beef Jerky 400
2019 Zachary Mello Crème Candy Corn 650
2019 Goetze’s Caramel Cream 550
2019 Rada Cutlery Popcorn on the cob 700
2019 Burning Asphalt Bourbon Beacon Ketchup 350
2019 Classic Country Gravy Mix 500
2019 Tuttorosso Marinara Pasta Sauce 700
2019 Tuttorosso Marinara Pasta Sauce Tomato 450
2019 Tuttorosso Marinara Traditional Sauce 500
2020 K2 Southern Style Sauce 700
2020 Turkish Taffy Vanilla 370
2020 Turkish Taffy Strawberry 550
2020 Jimmie Stix 380
2020 Root Beer Barrels Candy 360
2020 Maple Beef Jerky 500
2020 Zachary Mello Crème Candy Corn 700
2020 Goetze’s Caramel Cream 600
2020 Rada Cutlery Popcorn on the cob 350
2020 Burning Asphalt Bourbon Beacon Ketchup 450
2020 Classic Country Gravy Mix 600
2020 Tuttorosso Marinara Pasta Sauce 600
2020 Tuttorosso Marinara Pasta Sauce Tomato 500
2020 Tuttorosso Marinara Traditional Sauce 360
  • Import the tabular data (above) into your Excel spreadsheet to get started with Comparison Bar Charts by finding it from the list as shown below.
what is the purpose of a graph?

You can select the data in the sheet and click on Create Chart From Selection.

what is the purpose of a graph?
  • Check out the final Sankey Chart.
what is the purpose of a graph?

Insights

  • The most popular orders in 2018-20 were: Goetze Caramel Cream (10%), Root Beer Barrels Candy (11%), and K2 southern style sauce (10%).
  • Conversely, the worst-selling menus were: Turkish Taffy strawberry, Turkish Taffy vanilla, and Rada Cutlery.

Example #4: Specialized Survey Charts Category

In this example, we’ll use the 5-point Likert Chart (which belongs to Specialized Survey Charts Category) to visualize the data set below.

1 = Strongly Disagree

2 = Disagree

3 = Neutral

4 = Agree

5 = Strongly Agree

Questions Scale Responses
How do you rate our cleaning staff’s behavior? 1 35
How do you rate our cleaning staff’s behavior? 2 100
How do you rate our cleaning staff’s behavior? 3 146
How do you rate our cleaning staff’s behavior? 4 45
How do you rate our cleaning staff’s behavior? 5 193
How do you rate our cleaning services? 1 180
How do you rate our cleaning services? 2 204
How do you rate our cleaning services? 3 129
How do you rate our cleaning services? 4 193
How do you rate our cleaning services? 5 134
Will you recommend our services in your circle? 1 150
Will you recommend our services in your circle? 2 5
Will you recommend our services in your circle? 3 105
Will you recommend our services in your circle? 4 3
Will you recommend our services in your circle? 5 253
  • To get started with the Likert Chart, export the data (above) into Excel and find the chart in the list to continue.
what is the purpose of a graph?
  • Follow the steps we highlighted earlier to visualize your data in Excel using ChartExpo.
what is the purpose of a graph?

You can now select the data in the sheet and click on Create Chart From Selection.

what is the purpose of a graph?

You can have the final look as shown below by changing some properties of the charts.

what is the purpose of a graph?

What is the purpose of a graph? Continue reading to get in-depth information about the importance of graphs and charts in your stories.

Example #4: General Analysis Charts Category

In this example, we’ll use the Grouped Bar Chart (which belongs to General Analysis Charts Category) to visualize the data set below.

Brand California New York Chicago
Adidas 4,500 3,500 3,000
Nike 3,000 2,000 4,000
Tesco 3,500 2,500 3,000
lucky brand 2,000 3,500 2,500
Calvin Klein 3,000 2,000 3,500
DIESEL 2,000 3,000 3,500
DOCKERS 3,000 2,500 2,000
George 2,500 3,000 3,500
SANMAR 3,000 2,500 3,500
  • Export the data set (above) into your Excel to get started with Grouped Bar Charts.
what is the purpose of a graph?

You can select the data from the sheet and click on Create Chart From Selection.

what is the purpose of a graph?
  • Check out the final Grouped Bar Chart (below).
what is the purpose of a graph?

Insights

  • Adidas is the most popular brand in California.
  • Nike is the best-selling brand in Chicago
  • Lucky and Adidas tie as the best-performing brands in New York.
what is the purpose of a graph?what is the purpose of a graph?

Example #6: Pareto Bar Chart

In this example, we’ll use the Pareto Bar Chart (which belongs to the Pay-per-click Charts category) to visualize the data set below.

City Current Period Sales Previous Period Sales
New York 610 650
Chicago 550 545
San Francisco 445 389
Los Angeles 572 533
Seattle 153 185
Boston 188 143
Phoenix 497 485
Atlanta 265 180
Philadelphia 489 460
Miami 487 367
Dallas 8 6
Houston 7 4
St Louis 7 4
Columbus 1 1
Fresno 6 3
Mesa 2 2
Oakland 3 1
San Antonio 1 2
San Diego 1 1
  •  Paste the data (above) into your Excel and find the Pareto Bar Chart.
what is the purpose of a graph?

Select the data and click on Create Chart From Selection.

what is the purpose of a graph?

 

You will have a final look as shown below.

what is the purpose of a graph?

Insights:

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Miami cities accounts for 80% of the aggregate sales values in the USA.

What is the purpose of a graph? The aforementioned question is what the blog has just addressed.

FAQs:

Why is data visualization important?

Data visualization can help you to tell stories by transforming data into a form that’s easier to understand. A good visualization strategy should enable you to tell a story compellingly.

It acts as the bridge between raw data and insights by displaying relationships and trends in your data.

Why is it important to use graphs to visually represent data?

The purpose of a graph is to separate key insights from noise in your data using abstract images.

Our brains can interpret visual content over 60,000 times faster than texts and numbers. By using charts and graphs in your story, you can easily influence the decisions of your target audiences (or readers).

Wrap Up

What is the purpose of a graph?

The key purpose of charts and graphs is to appeal to the emotions of the target audience. Like we said, our brains have a knack for interpreting visual information faster than words and numbers.

If you’re a business person or professional, chances are you already know the importance of graphs and charts. But do you leverage them fully to get the most from your data?

What tools are you using to extract insights into your data?

If your use Excel full-time, you’re really missing big. The spreadsheet application has basic charts, which require more time and effort to customize. Essentially, you cannot find ready-made graphs and charts in the spreadsheet application.

To harness your raw data 100%, download and install add-ins in your Excel.

One of the proven and tested data visualization add-ins for Excel is ChartExpo.

ChartExpo with over 50 graphs ready-made and visually appealing charts to get you started in storytelling. It’s trusted by thousands of professionals and business owners worldwide.

Besides, it has a super-friendly user interface (UI), which means you don’t need coding or programming skills to visualize your data.

Sign up for a 7-day free trial today to harness your raw data fully for actionable answers.

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