Timeline for What is the correct way of visually representing more than two variables in one graph?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 8, 2016 at 10:40 | vote | accept | heavenhitman | ||
| Mar 9, 2016 at 9:57 | comment | added | Nick Cox | It's mostly the 1.4. I dislike a mix of styles, some numbers inside bars, some not. I too have often objected to dynamite or detonator plots, but not because of latent visual illusions. They are not informative enough, and put the emphasis on what is usually the wrong detail (size relative to zero). | |
| Mar 9, 2016 at 9:54 | comment | added | Nick Cox | Many of us are trained to think that Figures are figures and Tables are tables, and ne'er the twain shall meet. But there is a serious argument that this distinction is just a 500-year-long side-effect of the invention of printing: printers print Tables but Figures required the work of different technicians. Before printing, manuscript writers put graphics where they wanted and used semi-graphic elements too (think Leonardo). Now we can hybridise too. | |
| Mar 9, 2016 at 9:51 | comment | added | mark999 | Do you say that numbers inside the bars would not work well here just because the 1.4 wouldn't fit, or is there another reason? I seem to remember that one objection that some people (possibly Frank Harrell?) have to "dynamite plots" is that the error bars can create an optical illusion, causing the viewer to misjudge the relative heights or lengths of the main bars. I wonder if the numbers could have a similar effect. | |
| Mar 9, 2016 at 9:38 | comment | added | Nick Cox | @mark999 Thanks! A typical scatter plot, say, would indeed be overloaded with numbers alongside too. But what is the purpose of a bar chart like this? Arguably, it is mainly as a visual table. I think the art with the number text is to make it legible, but not too large. Note that a common option of putting the numbers inside the bars would not work well here. | |
| Mar 9, 2016 at 9:34 | comment | added | mark999 | Nice answer Nick. I tend not to like plots that list the numbers being plotted, but your comment about the best of both worlds has given me something to think about. I find your preference for lower-case text interesting too. | |
| Mar 9, 2016 at 9:19 | history | edited | Nick Cox | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Mar 9, 2016 at 8:59 | history | edited | Nick Cox | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Mar 9, 2016 at 8:34 | history | edited | Nick Cox | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Mar 8, 2016 at 23:40 | history | answered | Nick Cox | CC BY-SA 3.0 |