Error bars on graph bar graphs

[Emi Husband]

Hello,

I am creating some very simple bar charts in Stata and am in need of error bars (either range or SD) on them. I am plotting the mean rugosity of two different types of coral reef (shifting and recovering) against one another for different years.

The code I am using to create the initial charts is this:

graph bar shifted recovering, over(year) exclude0 ysc(r(1)) yla(1(0.2)1.8)

Is there a fairly straightforward way to add error bars to this chart?

Many thanks,

[Carole J. Wilson]

There have been several similar requests. See, for example, https://www.statalist.org/forums/for...dence-interval.

[Nick Cox]

Emi: As the thread linked by Carole J. Wilson discusses the kind of graph I think you're asking for is arguably very poor at giving information and has often been criticised not only for that but also for often being misleading.

As you know, I am loosely familiar with your kind of data and (immodesty aside) have to suggest stripplot from SSC for showing all your data together with bars showing confidence intervals for the mean.

[Emi Husband]

Hi both,

Carole - thank you for pointing me to this suggestion thread!

Nick, oh yes completely forgot about stripplot and that I had previously used that, especially on my coral data. Thats a great idea, especially for being more transparent with the data. Thank you for the reminder!