Creating+Charts+and+Graphs

Creating Charts

The “Action Research” part for your Master’s Degree will contain data that you need to include in your written project and in your final PowerPoint presentation. Create your charts in Microsoft Excel and use the same charts in both.

Included here are the steps you need to follow to create your charts.

Below are a few suggestions to keep in mind as your create your charts.

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 * 1) Keep your charts simple. Do not include a lot of data on one chart. Use multiple charts instead to trying to put it all on one chart.
 * 2) Always leave cell A1 blank.
 * 3) Use the shortest words possible for your titles. For example, use Male and Female, or Boys and Girls, or M and F instead of “Female Students in my Fifth Grade Class.” You can use a longer narrative as you explain your data in your paper.
 * 4) The purpose of a chart is to give your reader a clear picture of what your data says about your thesis. Keep your charts simple and uncluttered.
 * 5) Use the same type of charts as much as possible throughout your paper and PowerPoint presentation.
 * 6) Pie charts cannot be used to compare multiple data. For example you could not do a pie chart showing the three items that boys and girls had in class. You could do a pie chart to show the comparison of boys and girls with just one item.
 * 7) When you finish making a chart, save the Excel file so that you can change the data without creating a new chart.
 * 8) Click on the chart you created and go to Edit and Copy and then open your Microsoft Word file. Put the cursor where you want to the Paste your chart. You can then resize your chart. Try to keep your charts the same size throughout your paper.
 * 9) Experiment with Chart Types in the Chart Wizard. Most charts will be a Column or Bar chart but some data works well with other types of charts. Check the different Chart sub-type in the Wizard as well.