Stacked Bar Charts

This Tech Tip demonstrates how to run a stacked bar chart. In IBM SPSS Statistics, you can work within a single, integrated interface that allows you to run descriptive statistics, regression, advanced statistics, and machine learning models. This convenience not only saves time but also enhances your productivity. You can create publication-ready charts, tables, and decision trees in one tool. IBM SPSS Statistics not only provides comprehensive statistical tools and integration with open source but also offers analysis automation and immediate help at your fingertips, ensuring you always have the support you need.  

Stacked bar charts allow users to visualize a crosstab table. In this tech tip, a crosstab is run between two variables. These are self-reported happiness (3 categories) and marital status (5 categories). Examining the data in a crosstab table, users would examine counts and percentages across numerous cells. A stacked bar chart quickly provides a summary of the crosstab table.

To run a stacked bar chart, users can go to the Graph menu and select Chart Builder. Users will click on the Gallery Tab and choose from the Bar options. Users will then drag the stacked bar chart option into the Chart Preview area. A variable is dragged onto the x-axis and another variable is placed in the Stack set colour area. Users will then choose a statistic. When asking for a Percentage, users will need to click on the Set Parameters button. Users can select from Grand Total, Total for Each X-Axis Category or Total for Each Legend Variable Category. Once this is done, users can click OK to run the chart.

Once the chart is run, users can double-click on the chart to open it in the Chart Editor window. The Chart Editor allows users to easily customize their charts. Once the Chart Editor is open, users can go the Elements menu and select Show Data Labels.  This can be useful when users want to see the exact values represented by the chart.