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Square pie / Waffle chart

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Square pie / Waffle chart
Data on women in information technology using square pie. A square is divided into 10x10 fields, and for each number, as many fields are filled in as there are percent. Consequently, the numbers remain readable by simply counting the number of fields covered by one colour. Taking a hint from squarified treemaps, the areas should also be as square as possible for better comparability.
The square pie chart is for completely flat data that adds up to 100%, whereas the treemap shows structured data: a hierarchy. They may end up looking the same, but the meaning is not.
Visual types
Level of expertise
Source:
National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT). Women in IT - Squaring the Pie? - Robert Kosara, 2006: Women in IT - Squaring the Pie? - Robert Kosara (Non-commercial)
http://eagereyes.org/Techniques/SquarePieCharts.html
Interactive features
None
Benefits & pitfalls to avoid
  • Pie charts are often criticised. Comparing the size of pie segments can be difficult, and many visualisation experts suggest that bar-charts should be used instead.
Create your own
  • Pie charts can be created in a range of standard data applications such as Excel.