What is a Pie Chart?
For that next presentation, when you need to convey the proportional relationships between pieces of information, a pie chart might be your answer. They are simple to make using a computer and very easy to grasp. However, if you need to compare and contrast trends or juxtapose information from several years to show a pattern, the pie chart won't help you.
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Identification
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Think of any kind of pie: apple, blueberry, or even pizza. Pies usually are circular, so imagine one cut through the center along the diameter into two equal slices. A pie chart works the same way. Each slice compares to one segment of information, and all the slices added together make up the whole pie. A pie chart with two equal halves could be used to illustrate a second grade class, for example, with 12 boys and 12 girls. One half of the pie chart could be colored yellow to represent the girls. The other half of the pie chart could be colored brown to represent the boys.
Features
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Every pie chart starts with a circle that represents 100 percent of the statistical information. Wedges of the circle, then, are used to show how the statistics combine to form the whole sample. A wedge that takes up half of the circle indicates 50 percent. One that takes up 1/4 of the circle comprises 25 percent. One that takes up 1/10 of the circle represents 10 percent. Each wedge is filled in with a different color which is explained in the key. Like a map key, this is a mini-sidebar located near the pie chart itself.
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Function
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Pie charts only work as visual displays of proportional relationships from one specific time or period. They can show the various sources that make up a nonprofit organization's revenue stream for a year, for instance. A certain percentage comes from individual donors; another percentage comes from earned income; a third percentage comes from grants; and the fourth percentage represents the deficit, perhaps. All the percents add up to 100 percent. The percentage of each revenue source is depicted as a wedge that takes up the same percentage of the area of circle.
Warning
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A pie chart does not serve if you need to compare the revenues for the past several years, however. Pie charts can only be used once. If you want to use a visual tool to illustrate the revenues of several years, it is better accomplished with a line graph or a bar graph.
Potential
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Creating pie charts using Microsoft Word or similar software is easy. Start with the place in a Word document where you wish to include the chart. Choose the "Insert" menu. Then select "Picture" followed by "Chart." Your default chart setting will probably not be a pie chart, so you need to select "Chart Type" from the new menu on top followed by "Pie." You don't even need to make any calculations. Once the pie chart is selected, all you have to do is fill in your data on the spreadsheet that pops up. The computer will do the rest. Later, you can change the colors of the wedges and the fonts in the key.
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