Show percent % instead of counts in charts of categorical variables

📝Charting Categorical Variables: Show Percentages Instead of Counts

Are you tired of seeing counts in your charts for categorical variables? Do you want to showcase the percentage of values in each category instead? Well, you've come to the right place! In this guide, we'll address the common issues people face when trying to display percentages in their charts and provide easy solutions. So, let's dive in and make your charts more informative and visually appealing! 💪📊

The Problem: Counting Ain't Cool 😔

So, you're plotting a categorical variable, and all you see are boring counts for each category. Yawn! You want to spice things up and show the percentage of values in each category. But wait! Creating another variable with calculated percentages for each category seems like a tedious and repetitive task. You need a simpler solution that can be achieved in just one command. 🤔

Solution: Enter ggplot! 🚀

Fear not, friends! With the power of ggplot, we can easily display percentages in our charts. Let's check out some code examples to help us identify the right approach. 😉

# Example Data
mydata <- c("aa", "bb", NULL, "bb", "cc", "aa", "aa", "aa", "ee", NULL, "cc")
mydataf <- factor(mydata)

# Approach 1
ggplot(mydataf, aes(y = (..count..)/sum(..count..))) +
  scale_y_continuous(formatter = 'percent')

# Approach 2
ggplot(mydataf, aes(y = (..count..)/sum(..count..))) +
  scale_y_continuous(formatter = 'percent') + geom_bar()

# Approach 3
ggplot(mydataf, aes(x = levels(mydataf), y = (..count..)/sum(..count..))) +
  scale_y_continuous(formatter = 'percent')

# Approach 4
ggplot(mydataf, aes(x = levels(mydataf), y = (..count..)/sum(..count..))) +
  scale_y_continuous(formatter = 'percent') + geom_bar()

These approaches should do the trick and display the desired percentages in your charts. However, be cautious! You might encounter an error like this one: "ggplot2 doesn't know how to deal with data of class factor." 😱

Oops! Factor Trouble 😥

The error you encountered is related to how ggplot interacts with a single vector of class "factor." Don't worry; we can fix this! Let's adjust our code to avoid this error:

# Updated Code
ggplot(data = data.frame(x = mydataf), aes(x)) +
  geom_bar() +
  scale_y_continuous(formatter = 'percent')

By wrapping our factor variable in data.frame and specifying the column in aes(x), we ensure that ggplot recognizes it correctly. 🙌

Recap and Take Action! 📝

To summarize, if you want to display percentages instead of counts in your charts for categorical variables, follow these steps:

1. Use ggplot and specify the variable.

2. Adjust your data to avoid the "ggplot2 doesn't know how to deal with data of class factor" error.

3. Wrap your factor variable with data.frame and specify the column in aes(x).

4. Customize the y-axis to display percentages using scale_y_continuous(formatter = 'percent').

Now go forth, create visually stunning charts, and impress your audience with valuable percentage insights! 💥

If you found this guide helpful, share it with your fellow data enthusiasts and spread the knowledge! And if you have any questions or alternative solutions, let's discuss in the comments below. Keep exploring and never stop charting! 📈💬