Graph and Chart Literacy
Read dashboards, news graphics, and business reports with confidence.
line chart
best for showing change over time
pie chart
shows parts of a whole and works best with few categories
histogram
shows the distribution of numeric values
scatter plot
shows the relationship between two variables
box plot
shows median, spread, and outliers
stacked bar chart
shows both totals and composition
choropleth map
shows values across geographic areas
axis labels
tell you what each axis measures
legend
explains colors, symbols, or series
scale
units and spacing change how the graph should be read
truncated axis
can exaggerate differences by not starting from zero
percent vs absolute values
percentages can mislead if raw counts differ a lot
denominator
compare values only when they use a comparable base
trend
the overall direction matters more than one noisy point
outlier
a point far from the rest of the data
correlation vs causation
a relationship does not prove one thing caused the other
sample size note
small samples can produce unstable or misleading patterns
bar chart
best for comparing categories