How many decimal places does your graph actually need? 2, 1 or 0 decimal places? Most of my projects are in the social sciences. Social science measurement is not exact. We’re often creating instruments and tools from scratch to gather information. There are no rulers,…
If you use spreadsheets on a daily basis, this post isn’t for you. Within the past year I’ve led 61 trainings (and counting!) about both data analysis/statistics and data visualization. In each session, there’s one person who’s enthusiastically eager to learn but has almost zero experience…
I recently saw this graph at http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/10/21/357629765/when-women-stopped-coding. The topic caught my attention but the labels made me cringe. This graph is challenging to read in color (which turquoise category goes with which line?) and would be impossible to read when printed or photocopied in black…
Software typically gets better with time. New graph types are added, more color palettes are available, and editing tools are easier to locate and faster to use. Excel 2013’s leader lines are an exception. Leader lines are those gray or black lines that connect the labels with…
Does your file include any dates? If so, check out these simple formatting tips so that your dates are displayed in the style you want. Selecting Your Preferred Date Format If your spreadsheet contains dates, you can select either the Short Date or Long Date…