Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
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FIGURE 8.2
Total Number of Goals Scored by Teams 1 through 5.
The
x
axis indicates the team number, and the
y
axis indicates the number of goals scored
by the respective team.
Problem:
The false third dimension makes it difficult to
discern the values in the plot. Since the back face is the most important for inter-
preting the values, the fact that the decorative object comes to a point makes it
impossible to correctly read values from the plot.
should be placed in (otherwise) unused portions of the plotting
region.
Figure 8.4 is a much better display of the information of interest. The
problem illustrated is that there is too much empty space in the graphic.
Choosing to begin the vertical axis at zero means that about 40% of the
plotting region is empty. Unless there is a scientific reason compelling you
to include a specific baseline in the graph, the presentation should be
limited to the range of the information at hand. There are several
instances where axis range can exceed the information at hand, and we
will illustrate those in a presentation.
Rule 3:
Don't allow the range of the axes labels to significantly
decrease the area devoted to data presentation. Choose axis limits
wisely and do not automatically accept default values for the axes
that are far outside of the range of data.
