CompTIA Data+ (DA0-002)VisualizationMedium
A data analyst is tasked with creating a report that compares the revenue generated by different product lines over the past five years. The report needs to clearly show the individual contribution of each product line to the total revenue each year, as well as the overall trend of total revenue. Which chart type is MOST suitable for this scenario?
- ALine Chart
- BStacked Area Chart
- CPie Chart
- DBar Chart
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Stacked Area Chart
A stacked area chart is ideal for showing how different categories contribute to a total over time. Each colored section represents a product line's revenue, stacking to form the total revenue, which also reveals the overall trend.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A line chart is good for total trends but doesn't easily show individual contributions to that total.
- C. A pie chart shows parts of a whole for a single point in time, not trends or contributions over multiple years.
- D. A bar chart can show individual contributions but struggles to show the total trend over time effectively when many categories are involved.
Stacked Area Chart
A chart that displays multiple series of data as stacked areas, where the height of each stack represents the cumulative total, and each segment shows the contribution of a specific category over time.
- Shows part-to-whole relationships over time.
- Reveals the overall trend of the total sum.
- Highlights the contribution of individual components to the total.
Memory trick: Stacked Areas Show Contributions and Trends Together!