In a Pareto diagram, where should the 'Others' category be placed?

In a Pareto diagram, where should the 'Others' category be placed?

• A. At the beginning
• B. In the middle
• C. At the end as the last category
• D. It should be omitted

Answer: (C)

In a Pareto diagram, categories are ordered from most to least significant so the left side shows the major causes and the right side holds the smaller ones. The “Others” category collects all remaining minor items, so it belongs at the far right as the last category. Keeping it there preserves the decreasing order of impact and helps the cumulative percentage line reflect the total contribution of all items, including the small ones. Placing it at the start or in the middle would disrupt the intended ranking, and omitting it would hide part of the data.

In a Pareto diagram, categories are ordered from most to least significant so the left side shows the major causes and the right side holds the smaller ones. The “Others” category collects all remaining minor items, so it belongs at the far right as the last category. Keeping it there preserves the decreasing order of impact and helps the cumulative percentage line reflect the total contribution of all items, including the small ones. Placing it at the start or in the middle would disrupt the intended ranking, and omitting it would hide part of the data.