What are the advantages and disadvantages of bar graph and line graph?

Answer 1

Before going to its advantages and dis advantages , I would like to tell you why line graph is used.

Basically line graph is one of the main tool of Problem Solving techniques.

Line graph is the graphical presentation of the collected data in order to understand , analyze, conclude the data in a most easiest way

Lets take the example of an organization,

Every Organization is constituted of various processes. All the processes are well defined in terms of time, productivity and quality. But are all the processes under control? To get this information , we plot the line graph.

The first step to plot the line graph is to gather the data first of the division/department/issue/ problem of which you want to see the current trend.

Take an another example of data collection

We take the data of a man whose temperature we recorded at different time

@Time 10.00 : Temp: 101 degree Celsius

@Time 11.00 : Temp: 104 degree Celsius

@Time 12.00 : Temp: 100 Degree Celsius

@Time 1.00 : Temp: 98 degree Celsius

and so on

Then Represent this data on the X-Y axis taking time ( always) on x axis and Temperature on Y axis

Advantages of Line Graph:

Since this graph is always represented with respect to time so the graph reader can analyse the status of the activity/Task/ Process/issue/problem/ temperature ( as defined above) @ different time variations. And there where we see the status is out of control ( i.e. at peak or at far bottom), this graph exhibits the need of improvement.

Time may be months, Days, dates, hours, seconds, minutes etc.

Disadvantage of line graph:

Graph only represents the trend. But it doesn't go to the root cause of the identified issue .

As in above example of the collected data of temperature at different time , only indicates the temperature. But doesn't tell how this temperature occurred, the graph doesn't represent.