Graph bar chart with many variables on x axis

[Florian Neubauer]

I am trying to create a graph that looks like this:

In the data set in STATA I have one Variable with the different Maize varieties (DH04, DH02, Duma43, KDV1, Tego WH 1011). I have one variable for each Characteristic (on the x-axis).
You can see the data structure here:

How can I make the bar chart that is pictured above in STATA?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[Nick Cox]

Please study http://www.statalist.org/forums/help#stata for how to present examples helpfully here: no screenshots please!

While you're there stop by http://www.statalist.org/forums/help#spelling

[Florian Neubauer]

My apologies.

I try to explain the data and the chart I would like to create.

I have data on 5 different maize varieties (A, B, C, D, E). 16 different characteristics were observed for each of these varieties. Data were collected over 4 seasons and in different sites, so there are several observations per participant.
I would like to create a bar chart that has the 16 characteristics on the x-axis, and for each characteristic there is a bar for each variety. So characteristic 1 shows 5 bars clustered together, 1 for each variety.

This is what the data looks like and what dataex told me to copy (I could not include all 16 characteristics variables).

* Example generated by -dataex-. To install: ssc install dataex
clear
input double(PARTICIPANT_ID Evaluation_Round VARIETY GERMINATION_CROP_STAND HEIGHT STALK_THICKNESS NUMBER_OF_COBS COB_SIZE BARRENESS_LEVEL YIELD GOOD_TIP_COVER BIOMASS LODGING_RESISTANCE EARLY_MATURING STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE)
102 2 2 4 3 2 2 2 2 3 4 3 2 . 5
102 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 3 . 3
102 2 4 2 2 1 3 2 1 1 3 2 1 . 3
102 2 1 3 2 3 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 . 2
102 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 2 2 4 3 3 . 4
102 2 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 3 3 . 4
102 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 3 3 . 1
102 2 5 3 2 2 2 3 2 2 4 4 2 . 3
102 2 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 3 4 4 4 . 3
102 2 1 4 3 4 3 2 2 2 4 4 4 . 4
201 2 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 2 . 3
201 1 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 5
201 1 4 4 2 1 1 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2
201 1 2 4 4 4 5 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 4
201 1 1 5 5 4 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 5 5
201 2 5 5 3 4 3 3 3 3 4 5 4 . 3
201 1 3 5 5 5 3 4 3 5 5 4 4 4 4
201 1 1 5 5 4 4 4 4 2 5 5 5 4 5
201 1 2 5 4 3 3 3 2 4 5 3 4 3 4
201 2 1 5 3 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 . 4
201 1 3 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 5 4 4 4 3
201 1 2 5 4 3 4 3 4 4 3 3 4 3 4
201 1 4 4 5 5 4 3 2 5 4 4 4 3 3
201 2 2 5 4 2 3 4 3 4 4 4 2 . 4
201 2 4 3 5 3 4 4 3 4 5 3 2 . 4
201 2 2 5 3 3 2 3 3 4 4 3 2 . 3
201 1 5 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 2 3 3 3
201 2 2 5 5 5 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 . 5
201 1 1 3 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 2 3 3 3
201 1 2 5 4 3 4 2 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
201 1 3 5 4 3 2 3 2 2 4 4 5 5 2
201 2 3 5 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 . 4
201 1 2 5 4 3 4 3 3 2 4 3 3 3 4
201 1 4 3 4 5 5 4 5 4 4 4 4 5 3
201 1 1 5 3 3 2 2 1 1 5 5 5 2 5
201 2 5 5 3 3 3 3 2 3 2 5 5 . 4
201 1 3 4 4 3 4 3 3 4 3 4 3 4 4
201 2 3 5 4 3 4 3 3 4 5 4 4 . 5
201 1 5 5 4 5 4 4 5 5 4 5 5 3 4
201 2 1 5 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 5 4 . 4
201 1 5 5 3 5 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 2 4
201 1 5 5 4 2 3 4 3 2 4 4 4 3 5
202 1 5 5 2 4 3 2 4 2 3 4 5 4 4
202 1 2 4 2 3 3 1 2 1 3 3 3 2 3
202 1 4 4 4 3 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 4
202 1 3 5 2 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 2 3
202 1 1 5 4 5 4 4 3 4 4 4 5 2 4
202 1 1 3 2 2 2 2 3 1 4 3 4 2 3
202 1 4 4 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 3 2 1 3
202 1 3 5 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 5 3 4
202 1 2 3 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 3 2 1 3
202 1 2 4 3 4 3 4 3 3 4 5 4 4 3
202 1 2 4 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 2 4
202 1 3 3 2 3 2 2 1 1 4 3 2 2 2
202 1 5 4 5 3 4 3 2 3 5 5 4 4 4
202 1 3 4 4 3 3 2 3 3 3 4 4 2 3
202 1 1 4 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 3 2 1 3
202 1 4 4 4 5 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 3 4
202 1 5 4 3 3 4 2 3 2 4 4 3 2 2
202 1 4 2 2 4 3 4 3 3 4 3 3 4 4
202 1 2 5 4 3 4 2 3 3 4 3 3 2 3
202 1 5 3 4 3 2 4 3 4 3 3 3 4 4
202 1 1 5 4 4 4 3 2 4 5 3 3 4 3
203 1 4 3 4 3 4 3 3 2 3 4 3 4 4
203 2 2 5 5 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 4 . 4
203 1 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 3
203 2 1 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 3 4 3 . 5
203 1 1 5 4 4 3 3 4 2 2 5 4 4 4
203 1 5 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 4
203 1 4 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 1 2
203 1 1 5 4 4 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 1 3
203 2 2 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 3 4 . 3
203 1 1 5 4 5 3 3 3 2 3 5 4 3 3
203 2 3 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 . 4
203 2 2 5 5 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 3 . 4
203 2 1 5 3 3 4 2 2 3 2 3 3 . 2
203 2 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 . 4
203 2 4 5 3 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 4 . 3
203 2 4 5 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 4 4 . 5
203 1 3 5 3 2 1 1 1 3 4 3 2 5 5
203 2 3 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 3 . 2
203 1 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4
203 2 1 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 . 5
203 1 2 5 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 1 5
203 1 2 4 3 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 2 3 3
203 1 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 1 2 3 4 2 3
203 2 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 4 5 5 . 4
203 1 1 4 4 3 2 1 2 2 3 3 2 4 3
203 2 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 5 4 4 5 . 4
203 1 2 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 4
203 1 5 3 4 4 2 1 1 1 2 5 4 2 2
203 1 2 5 4 4 3 3 4 3 4 5 4 3 4
203 2 5 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 2 . 2
203 2 2 5 4 4 4 3 4 4 5 4 4 . 4
203 2 1 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 . 4
203 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 2 4 1 3
203 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 . 2
203 1 3 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 5
203 1 4 5 5 4 4 3 4 3 3 5 4 4 3
203 2 5 5 5 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 4 . 5
end
label values Evaluation_Round Evaluation_Round
label def Evaluation_Round 1 "Mid season", modify
label def Evaluation_Round 2 "End season", modify
label values VARIETY VARIETY
label def VARIETY 1 "DH04", modify
label def VARIETY 2 "DH02", modify
label def VARIETY 3 "Duma43", modify
label def VARIETY 4 "KDV1", modify
label def VARIETY 5 "Tego WH 1011", modify
label values GERMINATION_CROP_STAND GERMINATION_CROP_STAND
label def GERMINATION_CROP_STAND 1 "E", modify
label def GERMINATION_CROP_STAND 2 "D", modify
label def GERMINATION_CROP_STAND 3 "C", modify
label def GERMINATION_CROP_STAND 4 "B", modify
label def GERMINATION_CROP_STAND 5 "A", modify
label values HEIGHT HEIGHT
label def HEIGHT 1 "E", modify
label def HEIGHT 2 "D", modify
label def HEIGHT 3 "C", modify
label def HEIGHT 4 "B", modify
label def HEIGHT 5 "A", modify
label values STALK_THICKNESS STALK_THICKNESS
label def STALK_THICKNESS 1 "E", modify
label def STALK_THICKNESS 2 "D", modify
label def STALK_THICKNESS 3 "C", modify
label def STALK_THICKNESS 4 "B", modify
label def STALK_THICKNESS 5 "A", modify
label values NUMBER_OF_COBS NUMBER_OF_COBS
label def NUMBER_OF_COBS 1 "E", modify
label def NUMBER_OF_COBS 2 "D", modify
label def NUMBER_OF_COBS 3 "C", modify
label def NUMBER_OF_COBS 4 "B", modify
label def NUMBER_OF_COBS 5 "A", modify
label values COB_SIZE COB_SIZE
label def COB_SIZE 1 "E", modify
label def COB_SIZE 2 "D", modify
label def COB_SIZE 3 "C", modify
label def COB_SIZE 4 "B", modify
label def COB_SIZE 5 "A", modify
label values BARRENESS_LEVEL BARRENESS_LEVEL
label def BARRENESS_LEVEL 1 "E", modify
label def BARRENESS_LEVEL 2 "D", modify
label def BARRENESS_LEVEL 3 "C", modify
label def BARRENESS_LEVEL 4 "B", modify
label def BARRENESS_LEVEL 5 "A", modify
label values YIELD YIELD
label def YIELD 1 "E", modify
label def YIELD 2 "D", modify
label def YIELD 3 "C", modify
label def YIELD 4 "B", modify
label def YIELD 5 "A", modify
label values GOOD_TIP_COVER GOOD_TIP_COVER
label def GOOD_TIP_COVER 1 "E", modify
label def GOOD_TIP_COVER 2 "D", modify
label def GOOD_TIP_COVER 3 "C", modify
label def GOOD_TIP_COVER 4 "B", modify
label def GOOD_TIP_COVER 5 "A", modify
label values BIOMASS BIOMASS
label def BIOMASS 1 "E", modify
label def BIOMASS 2 "D", modify
label def BIOMASS 3 "C", modify
label def BIOMASS 4 "B", modify
label def BIOMASS 5 "A", modify
label values LODGING_RESISTANCE LODGING_RESISTANCE
label def LODGING_RESISTANCE 1 "E", modify
label def LODGING_RESISTANCE 2 "D", modify
label def LODGING_RESISTANCE 3 "C", modify
label def LODGING_RESISTANCE 4 "B", modify
label def LODGING_RESISTANCE 5 "A", modify
label values STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE
label def STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE 1 "E", modify
label def STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE 2 "D", modify
label def STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE 3 "C", modify
label def STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE 4 "B", modify
label def STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE 5 "A", modify

I hope this makes sense.
Kind regards

[Nick Cox]

Thanks for the example. I'd advise strongly against a bar chart here. It's really hard to make it readable and useful. Continuing from your code, this may help:

collapse GERMINATION_CROP_STAND-STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE, by(VARIETY)
rename (GERMINATION_CROP_STAND-STALK_BORER_RESISTANCE) (mean=)
reshape long mean , i(VARIETY) j(measure) string
replace measure = lower(subinstr(measure, "_", " ", .))
replace measure = subinstr(measure, "barreness", "barrenness", .)

graph dot (asis) mean , over(V) over(measure) asyvars exclude0 ///
legend(pos(3) col(1)) marker(1, ms(Oh)) marker(2, ms(X))       ///
  marker(3, ms(+)) marker(4, ms(Dh)) marker(5, ms(Sh)) linetype(line) ///
  lines(lc(gs12) lw(thin))

I note that you have 16 characteristics not 12, so the need for a readable graph is even greater.

Alphabetical order of measures is dopey here, and can undoubtedly be improved on.

(The order of varieties is what you chose.)

[Florian Neubauer]

Thanks a lot, Nick!! This is very helpful.

[Nick Cox]

I didn't spell it out, but here as very often elsewhere it seems to be the differences (between varieties) that are central. What their values are relative to zero is not central, but that's the tacit focus of a bar chart.

[Florian Neubauer]

I have another question: with the same dataset I want to create the graph for each of the four seasons and combine them in one picture. The labels of the vertical axes are quite large though and take up too much space. I'd rather have them only on the left side of the first and the third graph and remove them from the right graphs, so the data has more space. How do I do that? I have tried for some time and couldn't find any solutions.

My code is:

graph dot (asis) mean if YEAR ==1 & Evaluation_Round ==1, over(VARIETY) over(measure) asyvars exclude0 ylab(2(.5)5) ///
legend(pos(3) col(1)) marker(1, ms(Oh)) marker(2, ms(X))       ///
marker(3, ms(+)) marker(4, ms(Dh)) marker(5, ms(Sh)) linetype(line) ///
lines(lc(gs12) lw(thin))   name(Y1S1, replace) nodraw

graph dot (asis) mean if YEAR ==1 & Evaluation_Round ==2, over(VARIETY) over(measure) asyvars  exclude0 ylab(2(.5)5) ///
legend(pos(3) col(1)) marker(1, ms(Oh)) marker(2, ms(X))       ///
marker(3, ms(+)) marker(4, ms(Dh)) marker(5, ms(Sh)) linetype(line) ///
lines(lc(gs12) lw(thin)) name(Y1S2, replace) nodraw

graph dot (asis) mean if YEAR ==2 & Evaluation_Round ==1, over(VARIETY) over(measure) asyvars exclude0 ylab(2(.5)5) ///
legend(pos(3) col(1)) marker(1, ms(Oh)) marker(2, ms(X))       ///
marker(3, ms(+)) marker(4, ms(Dh)) marker(5, ms(Sh)) linetype(line) ///
lines(lc(gs12) lw(thin)) name(Y2S1, replace) nodraw

graph dot (asis) mean if YEAR ==2 & Evaluation_Round ==2, over(VARIETY) over(measure) asyvars  exclude0 ylab(2(.5)5) ///
legend(rows(1) size(small) pos(3) col(1)) marker(1, ms(Oh)) marker(2, ms(X))       ///
marker(3, ms(+)) marker(4, ms(Dh)) marker(5, ms(Sh)) linetype(line) ///
lines(lc(gs12) lw(thin)) name(Y2S2, replace) nodraw
grc1leg Y1S1 Y1S2 Y2S1 Y2S2 , leg(Y2S2)

[Carolina Hincapie]

Dear all,

I am trying to create a stack bar chart given the count of outcome /not outcome, but stratified by score and category (Stata 18)

Something like this:

The furthest I had reached was this (but it is not measured by count, it is by percentage).

 graph bar, over(outcome) over(score) asyvars percentages stack by(category)

Here the data:

* Example generated by -dataex-. For more info, type help dataex
clear
input float(outcome score category)
0 2 3
0 1 3
0 0 3
0 1 2
0 0 3
1 0 3
0 3 1
0 3 2
0 2 3
0 2 3
0 1 3
0 2 3
0 1 4
0 1 4
0 1 2
0 0 2
0 0 1
0 0 3
0 1 2
0 0 2
0 1 2
1 0 2
0 1 4
1 1 4
0 0 4
0 1 2
0 2 3
0 2 3
0 3 3
0 4 3
0 2 3
0 2 2
0 0 3
0 1 4
0 0 1
0 1 3
0 0 3
0 4 4
0 2 3
0 2 3
0 2 2
0 1 3
0 2 4
0 4 1
0 1 2
1 0 3
0 4 2
0 5 4
0 1 3
0 0 1
0 2 4
0 1 2
0 1 1
0 0 3
0 1 3
0 0 3
1 3 3
1 4 3
0 4 3
0 2 2
0 0 3
0 0 3
0 2 4
1 2 3
0 1 2
0 0 1
0 0 4
0 3 2
0 2 3
0 1 2
0 1 3
0 0 3
1 1 2
0 1 3
0 1 3
1 0 4
0 1 3
0 5 3
0 0 3
0 4 3
0 0 3
0 0 3
0 4 3
1 1 1
0 1 3
0 1 2
0 2 1
0 0 1
0 1 3
0 3 4
0 6 4
0 3 2
0 1 1
0 3 1
1 1 2
0 2 2
0 3 1
0 2 4
0 0 3
0 1 3
end

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Nick Cox]

Try playing with

ssc install catplot 

catplot outcome category score, stack asyvars recast(bar) legend(order(2 1))

[Carolina Hincapie]

Nick Cox Thanks a lot!