By: Nicholas Mesa

What is a pivot table?

Pivot tables are normally sheets that categorize data to make it easier for a reader to understand the meaning. They automatically sort and display data in columns and tables.

Why are they helpful?

Pivot tables are helpful because they allow data to be quickly sorted and summarized so the reader can easily see what corresponds to what, and what the data means to them.

Here is an example of an effective table and some reasons why:

This pivot table allows each category to be displayed to make navigation easy. Breaking the data up into date, color, region, units, and sales, can allow someone to go in and be guided to exactly what numbers they need.

For my data set I chose to show people’s favorite ways of traveling for vacation. I think using a pie for this because it visually breaks up the surveyed population into sections. Doing this allows for someone to easily see which sections were more in favor.

After making my own lollipop chart, I can see the appeal of using that instead of a bar or line graph. The traditional line or bar graph has been done countless times, using this graph changes that up and creates an easy way to display data. Bar graphs can sometimes be clustered when a lot of data is being presented, varying in length. This type of graph can make it clearer to the reader and free up space.

The graph I chose shows both general social surveys vs. American National election studies. This graph displayed one side with the general social survey, asking Americans on what side they may see themselves. On the other side of the graph, it showed actual American elections and what people were under. This uses the left side of the graph as a benchmark of what sides Americans say they are on vs. who they actually vote for.