Bar charts provide a way for you to take in complicated information at a glance. But if you're not familiar with how they work, you'll be missing out. The steps outlined below will help you read the important data presented b ygraphs and allow you to decipher the relevant information.
Instructions
1. Locate the X axis. This will typically be the label that identifies the information at the bottom of each bar, such as time frame, percentages or the names of what is being compared, such as shoes or months.
2. Find the Y axis. It is usually located at the left side of the bar graph and shows the value of what is being compared, such as how many shoes were sold in a month or how many blue shoes versus black shoes were sold.
3. Read the legend of the bar chart. This is the small box of information to the side of the bars. The legend tells you what the individual bars represent. Read the labels that identify each bar in a bar chart. The legend is not always on every graph, as the Y and X axis show the same information.
4. Find the correlating information on the bar graph. Typically, each bar on a bar chart will be a different color, easily allowing you to locate the information as outlined in the legend. The bars of a bar graph will indicate how much of something or what percentage of something is being referred to. The legend tells you exactly what that something is.
5. Compare the bars. By understanding what the colors mean, you can easily read the story of any bar graph. Evaluate the differences between the bars. This will tell you the comparative numbers of items; for example, how many blue shoes were sold in March and how many in April.
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