A Pie Chart is used for displaying a single categorical variable (not appropriate for quantitative data or more than one categorical variable) in a sliced circle whose individual pieces represent a fraction of the whole. It is most successful when the pie chart represents fewer categories. A pie chart is used appropriately when the combination of slices account for every part of the circle. For example, if one slice increases, then the other slices must decrease accordingly. It is important to note that if a person is comparing different categories to the whole, then a pie chart is appropriate. However, if a person is trying to compare different categories to each other, then a pie chart is less appropriate. 

Most statisticians usually discourage the use of a pie chart because of the many disadvantages. A pie chart does not show exact values, which can cause confusion when distinguishing between pie slices. A pie chart is also unable to show changes over time without there being multiple charts side-by-side, and a pie chart can be easily manipulated to imply false results. This can occur when the percentages represented by pie slices do not add up to 100% or when the area principle is violated. The area principle states that every portion represented in the model must be equal to its corresponding frequency. A violation of the area principal would be when a viewer is looking at a 3D pie chart and the slices closer to the viewer appear larger than the others (this happens when a 3D pie chart is displayed at a tilted angle). This can confuse viewers and lead them to see qualities of the data that are not there. Therefore, when looking at a pie chart it is important to notice the area of the individual slices and the corresponding frequencies. It is also less effective to use a pie chart when there are too many categories being compared.  

The pie chart below illustrates a 2D view of different movie genres. Each color within the pie chart represents a different movie genre. One will now be able to analyze the distribution of the movie genres within the data. 

How to Generate a Pie Chart in SPSS: 

• Click Graphs (Located in top toolbar)
• Click Chart Builder
• Choose Pie Chart from list of charts (Located fifth one down in selection of charts)
• Click and drag Pie Chart to Chart Preview Box
• Click and drag variable of interest into box located directly beneath pie chart
• Click Okay
• The Pie Chart will display in the output window