Charts in Excel – A Series Matter

Abstract

Summary The Chart Wizard in Microsoft Excel is supposed to make chart drawing so easy that a child can do it, yet many intelligent adults fail to use it successfully. This article suggests some simple principles that resolve many of the difficulties.

Bluebells and Bias, Stitchwort and Statistics

“…Now the statistical analysis. I had decided against using Excel (which was the only spreadsheet or chart‐drawing package available) for aggregating the results and drawing diagrams because of the unpredictability of its chart drawing (Hunt and Mashhoudy 2004). Further, this would be an activity in which the children did not participate directly.…”

The Humble Pie – Half‐Baked or Well Done?

“…As we explained in an earlier article (Hunt and Mashhoudy 2005), many students have difficulty in understanding Excel's concept of a data ‘series’. Indeed, by displaying each sector of a pie in a different colour, Excel is implying that each sector is a different data series, thereby compounding the confusion.…”

Chernoff Faces in Microsoft Excel

“…Select F2:H13 and construct a Bubble plot of the ( x , y , z ) values, using the default settings offered by Excel's Chart Wizard. Resist the temptation to include the first row (F1:H1) in your selection since this confuses the Chart Wizard when drawing bubble charts (see Hunt and Mashhoudy 2004). Right‐click on one of the bubbles and select Format Data Series from the shortcut menu.…”