2. Bar charts

Bar charts are often seen as one of the simplest ways to present data, however bar charts take many different forms.

In this section you will look at some of the different ways data is presented in formats that could all be considered bar charts. It is important you are aware of these since even the smallest difference in presentation, such as bars being horizontal rather than vertical, can cause learners difficulties in understanding; for instance, they may think a horizontal bar chart is no longer a bar chart at all and that the same techniques and understanding do not therefore apply.

Bar chart or bar graph?