Standard Statistical Charts
Bar and Column
Line
Scatterplots http://soc125ppol225.wikispot.org/Excel_Scatterplot
Pie Charts
Tables vs. Charts
Charts, Graphs, Tables, and Presentations
Distinctions
Charts, graphs, plots refer to graphical representations of data. They include histograms, bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, etc.
Tables are arrangements of rows and columns of data.
“Data graphics visually display measured quantities by means of the combined use of points, lines, a coordinate system, numbers, symbols, words, shading, and color” Tufte 1983, 1
Goals of Graphical Excellence (after Tufte)
“…complex quantitative ideas communicated with clarity, precision, and efficiency” (51)
Show the data
Induce reader to think about substance
Avoid distorting data
Present many numbers in small space
Make the large and complex coherent
Encourage comparisons
Reveal multiple levels of detail in data
Serve a well-defined purpose
Connect with textual descriptions and tabular presentations of data
Overall
Multivariate
Truth
TYPES OF CHARTS
Data Maps
Time Series
Time Space Charts
Small Multiples
Integrity
Area and the Lie Factor
Baselines
The Anatomy of a Chart
Types of Charts
Basic data set : cases by variables. Common secondary version is values by frequency.
Bar Charts
One set of data
Good for comparing absolute frequency of categorical variables.
Caution when classes are of different “widths” or “open-ended”
Frequency histogram as most common
Grouped Bar
As above but more than one set of data
Stacked Bar
Use when categories are subsets of a whole and mutually exclusive and (probably) exhaustive.
Stack Bar 100%
Useful for showing comparative composition.
Line Charts
X-Y Charts
Pie Charts