Authoring a PhD Thesis How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Dissertation by Patrick Dunleavy

HANDLING ATTENTION POINTS◆ 177

1994

Personal digital assistants (PDAs)

Personal computers

Mobile phones

Number of appliances bought (thousands)

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

1998 2002

(e) Grouped bar chart

Changing patterns of electronics appliances
purchases, UK 1994 to 2002 (hypothetical)

Use a grouped bar chart whenever:

• you want to show how the levels of several indices
  vary across a number of different cases or areas or time
  periods.

Don’t use grouped bar charts if:

• the data are really shares of something (normally
  better to use a percentage component chart).

Points to watch:

• put the bars for each unit into an order that gives the
  clearest pattern across the cases (ideally a numerical
  progression within each case);


• use clearly distinct shadings and provide labels for
  each bar.