Pie chart-remove series w/out changing percent in pie

  • Thread starter Thread starter DeniseD1128
  • Start date Start date
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DeniseD1128

Is it possible to remove a series from a pie chart without the percentages of
each pie section changing? I tried to hide rows in the spreadsheet that have
<5 value. But I want the % in the data labels to stay the same. If I hide
rows, the labels change so that the whole pie still adds up tp 100%.
Thank you! Denise
 
A pie is supposed to add up to 100%, isn't it? That's what pie charts are
(incorrectly) assumed to be good at showing, portions of a whole. Actually,
pies "plot" the fractions accurately, but for a number of cognitive reasons,
people just can't read them properly.

What you should be doing is adding up all the <5 values into a single
"other" category to preserve the totals.

A better approach is to make a bar chart instead, showing the absolute
values. The lengths of the bars are easier to interpret than the wedges of a
pie chart, and if you hide one or two, it doesn't affect the apparent size
of the others. An other category is probably still a good idea. You should
also probably sort the categories so the bars appear in descending order of
size. (The pie wedge data should also be sorted.)

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Peltier Technical Services, Inc.
http://PeltierTech.com/WordPress/

Advanced Excel Conference - June 17-18 2009 - Charting and Programming
http://peltiertech.com/Training/2009-06-ACNJ/AdvExcelConf200906ACNJ.html
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