Difference between Multiple Bar Chart and Component Bar Chart

We all love charts. They’re dynamic, colorful, and they make it so easy to compare data across a series of categories. But sometimes we need more than one chart to tell the full story. When you are dealing with a lot of data, you need to be able to present it in an easy-to-read manner. If you’re looking for a way to visualize your data, you’ve probably encountered these two charts: the multiple bar chart and the component bar chart.

The main difference between the multiple bar chart and component bar chart is that the component bar chart focuses on one aspect of data, while the multiple bar chart displays multiple aspects of data.

Before we move to the differences, let’s understand what are Multiple Bar Chart and Component Bar Chart:

  • Multiple Bar Chart: A multiple bar chart is a way of representing data that shows the relationship between variables by displaying multiple bars, each representing a single value. The bars can be arranged on the same axis or on different axes.
  • Component Bar Chart: Component bar chart is a type of bar chart in which the categories are divided into subcategories. The subcategories are represented by smaller bars inside the larger bars, which represent the main categories.

Multiple Bar Chart vs Component Bar Chart

Now, let’s move to Multiple Bar Chart vs Component Bar Chart:

Major differences between Multiple Bar Chart and Component Bar Chart

Multiple Bar Chart Component Bar Chart
Multiple Bar Charts use a single vertical axis to show the sum of all the values in a group. Each bar represents one data point, and they are stacked vertically so that they can be easily compared against each other. Component Bar Charts also have a single vertical axis, but it’s divided into components based on their value ranges (e.g., low-end, medium-end, high-end). Each component has its own horizontal scale so that the bars can be compared with one another individually as well as with their component’s total value range.
Multiple Bar Chart shows the comparison of data across multiple variables. Component Bar Chart is used to show the relationship between one dependent variable and one independent variable.
Multiple Bar Chart is used to show the relationships between two or more categorical variables. Component Bar Chart is used to present a single set of values in a chart format.
The multiple bar chart may be combined with other graphs to create a more complete picture. The component bar chart cannot be combined with other graphs because it only shows one event at a time.
Each category has its own color and does not overlap with any other categories. Categories are stacked on top of each other; they may overlap and share the same color if necessary.

 

That’s it.

Note that sometimes, the question might also be asked as “distinguish between Multiple Bar Chart and Component Bar Chart”.

Also see:

Final words

Multiple Bar Chart and Component Bar Chart are used to display the distribution of a variable over different subgroups.

The main difference between them is that multiple bar charts have one bar representing each subgroup, while component bar charts have each subgroup represented by one or more bars.

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