Applying Labels to Bar Charts in IBM SPSS Statistics

This Tech Tip looks at applying labels to bar charts in IBM SPSS Statistics. To improve your experience using IBM SPSS Statistics, the Version 1 SPSS experts have created various Tech Tips.

In IBM SPSS Statistics, you can work inside a single, integrated interface to run descriptive statistics, regression, advanced statistics and machine learning models. You can create publication-ready charts, tables, and decision trees in one tool. IBM SPSS Statistics is easy to use, provides analysis automation, comprehensive statistical tools, integration with open source, and help at your fingertips.

In IBM SPSS Statistics, you can present results in tables or graphs. The Graphs menu gives multiple options for creating graphs. The Chart Builder allows users to select graph types and drag and drop to build charts. In the Graphboard Template Chooser, users select variables and choose from a selection of graphs. Also, there are legacy graph options. The various graphing options allow users to build graphs quickly.

Once the graph is run, you can apply labels, and control the format and appearance of the labels. To get started, double-click on the bar chart. Select the Elements menu and click on Show Data Labels. The labels will appear on the bars of the graph. The labels will appear along with a Properties dialogue box. You can adjust the settings in this box and change the Number Format, Data Value Labels, Variables, Chart Size, Text Layout, Text Style, and Fill and Border. For example, if you want to change the text size, you can click on text style and change font, size, style, and colour. To change the number format, click on the Number Format tab and change the format as needed. Applying labels to bar charts in your graphs is easy and fast.