Graphs

Question 1

What is the primary objective of a distribution chart

Answer 1

to show the probability distribution of a continuous variable (eg, the age of a customer base, customer satisfaction on a scale of 1-10).

Question 2

What is the prototypical chart for displaying distribution

Answer 2

Histograms and variants of it

Question 3

What is the primary goal of a composition chart

Answer 3

The primary goal of a composition chart is to show how a single metric (eg, cost, revenues, addressable market) breaks down into smaller sub-components.

Composition: The goal here is to show how a certain metric breaks down into various sub-metrics and compare that across different entities or by itself. Common examples are:

Stacked column chart (100% or absolute)
Stacked area chart (100% or absolute)
Waterfall chart
Donut charts / Pie charts

Question 4

What is the primary goal of a comparison chart

Answer 4

The primary goal of a comparison chart is to show how a single metric (eg, revenue, cost, miles per gallon, NPS, batting averages, etc) compares across items.
The prototypical comparison charts are a column chart and a bar chart, which is simply a column chart but the columns are rotated ninety degress to the right.

Comparison: The goal is to, you guessed it, illustrate the comparison between two or more metrics. Common examples are:

Column charts (single or multiple)
Line charts (single or multiple)
Bar charts
Harvey balls / Heatmaps

Question 5

Difference between a bar chart and a column chart?

Answer 5

A bar chart plots the variable value horizontally, and the fixed dimension, such as time, vertically. A column chart plots the variable value vertically, and the fixed dimension horizontally.