Create a vertical or horizontal bar chart
A bar chart represents categorical data using rectangular bars whose heights or lenghts are proportional to their values.
In LogAlto, you can create vertical or horizontal bar chart.
In a vertical bar chart, the X axis of the chart indicates the specific categories being compared, and the Y axis represents a measured value.
- When to use a bar chart?
- Create a bar chart
- Configure the bar chart
- Example 1: disaggregated indicator
- Example 2: budgets vs expenditures
When to use a bar chart?
The barchart is useful for comparing relative amounts of each categories - such as comparing the number of persons per gender or per geographic region.
It requires at least 1 numerical field (what will be calculated) and 1 or 2 categorical variable (what will be compared).
In some cases, a stacked bar chart (article here) may be more useful.
If you need to compare 3 or more categorizations/dimensions, a radar chart (article here) or a pivot table might be better options (article here).
Create a bar chart
To create a bar chart:
- Select the "Analytics" module in the main menu (left)
- Click on the "+" sign
- To create the new analytics report, you must:
- Enter a title
- Select a dataset
- Choose an output type (in this case: Vertical bar chart or Horizontal bar chart)
- Save
- A draft data visualization will be displayed
- To configure the report:
- Click the "Toolbox icon" to open the configuration panel
- Configure the chart to fit your needs
- Click "Generate" to view the result
- Click "Save" to save the report
- If you open this pie chart again in the future, it will be automatically updated to reflect the newly added data. Therefore, if you wish to keep the report that reflects the current data, you need to export it.
Configure the bar chart
In the configuration panel of the bar chart, you will see the following parameters:
| Parameter | Details | Example or Link |
|---|---|---|
| Calculation method | Allows to select the calculation that will be applied (Average, Sum, Count, etc.). | For more details, you can read the "Calculation methods" article. |
| Field | The field on which the calculation will be applied. | This must be a numerical field (number). |
| Display the value as a percentage | If the labels are displayed, you will see the proportion of the slice. | Example: The dataset has 15 rows. 3 of them are in category A. Then if this box is checked, it will display "20%" instead of displaying "3" in the bar representing category A. |
| X axis or bar groups (for horizontal bar charts, the parameter is "Y axis") | First field that will be compared (categories represented by bars). | This could be gender/region/budget line, etc. |
| Coloring of bars | Second field that will be compared (sub-categories represented by various colors). | This could be gender/region/budget line, etc. |
| Distinct values | Allows to count items only once and avoid duplicates. | Example: a participant could have attended multiple activities of the same type. If you need to count participations only once per attendee/type, then you need to select the Attendee field as a distinct value. For more details, you can read the "Distinct count" article. |
| Position of labels | Allow to specify if you want to display the values on the chart. | Hide, inside at the end, or inside at the start of each bar. |
| Dropdown lists: use predefined colors | Allows to color bars using the colors attributed to each category. Otherwise, colors will be attributed randomly. | For more details, you can read the "Manage system lists" article. |
| Axis limits: minimum and maximum value | Allows to specify the minimum and maximum values to display on the axis. | This is optional. |
| Filters | Allows to filter out part of the dataset. | This is optional. |
Example 1: male vs female indicator values per quarter
In this example, we want to compare the values (male vs female) of an indicator per quarter.
This example uses the "Indicator disaggregated values" dataset.
| Parameter | Chosen option for the parameter |
|---|---|
| Calculation method | Sum |
| Field | Overall cumulative |
| X axis | Actual quarter |
| Coloring of lines | Gender |
| Distinct values | not applicable - empty |
| Position of labels | Hide |
| Dropdown lists: use predefined colors | Checked (yes) |
| Axis limits | Minimum: 0 (otherwise, the Y axis would start at 45: the min value recorded). |
| Filters | The indicator for which we want to compare the male vs female values per quarter. |
Example 2: budget vs expenditures per budget line (category)
In this example, we want to compare the values (male vs female) of an indicator per budget line (category).
This example uses the "Indicator disaggregated values" dataset.
| Parameter | Chosen option for the parameter |
|---|---|
| Calculation method | Sum |
| Field | Amount |
| X axis | Budget group (budget lines/categories) |
| Coloring of lines | Type (budget vs expenditures) |
| Distinct values | not applicable - empty |
| Position of labels | Outside |
| Dropdown lists: use predefined colors | Not applicable |
| Axis limits | Not applicable (empty/automatic) |
| Filters | The project for which we want to compare the budget vs expenditures per budget line. |