Stata graphs: Circular bar graphs I

(Jun 2024: This guide is now superceded by the polarspike package. The details below might still be useful to understand how these figures are constructed.)

In this guide we will learn to make the following circular bar graphs in Stata:

Circle bar graphs can be highly relevant for comparing a large set of observations, which would otherwise not really fit on a straight line. We can also use the circle layout to pack a lot of information in a relatively compact space.

Preamble

Like previous guides, a basic knowledge of Stata is assumed. For this guide, you should ideally have Stata 15 or higher to get the colors to display properly.

• To make the graphs exactly as they are shown here, install the schemepack suite (more info in the Scheme guide and on GitHub):

ssc install schemepack, replace

Set the schemes to one of the white backgrounds for a clean look:

set scheme white_tableau   // my favorite one

• Install Ben Jann’s palette package (more on colors in Guide 2 and the Color guide):