Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
When should I pick Histogram?
When the story is: one continuous measurement and its shape.
When should I avoid Histogram?
Skip it in cases like: bins differ in width, or you are comparing named categories.
Who invented or popularised it?
Karl Pearson, 1891, as a graphical frequency distribution
What does it encode?
count of observations inside each bin
Is it OK in ads?
Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure.
Will a teacher accept it?
Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present.
Histogram encodes values as count of observations inside each bin. Karl Pearson, 1891, as a graphical frequency distribution.
In reports, ads and assignments it fits one continuous measurement and its shape. Skip it when bins differ in width, or you are comparing named categories.
Mistakes
- Failure modes 1 — bins differ in width, or you are comparing named categories
- Failure modes 2 — 3-D pies and perspective bars
- Failure modes 3 — Dual axes that fake a correlation
- Failure modes 4 — Truncated axes that shout a small delta
- Failure modes 5 — Legend only, no direct labels
- Failure modes 6 — Missing source, unit or period
Fixes
- Fixes 1 — Return to one continuous measurement and its shape.
- Fixes 2 — Flat, one axis, direct labels.
- Fixes 3 — Color-blind-safe palette plus pattern.
- Fixes 4 — Rewrite the title as a claim and add a source line.
Histogram: honour count of observations inside each bin, and switch when bins differ in width, or you are comparing named categories.