The wood and the trees - The Visualization of Spatial Social Structure - page 222

8

The wood and the trees

How can we display data values representing points in a ten-
dimensional data space? What kinds of display techniques
demonstrate patterns in such a way that a scientist can perceive those
patterns?

(Bergeron and Grinstein, 1989, p. 393)

8.1 Sculptured characters

Consideration up to now in this topic has rarely gone beyond the simultaneous
visual representations of a handful of variables - three or four at most. Analysts
are often presented with situations in which far more aspects are available to be
compared than can be compared. What is more, we know that there are usually
strong but sometimes subtle relationships lying among all these numbers.
One aim of visualization is to take understanding beyond simple numerical
relationships - the idea that when one variable goes up another always goes
down. The ideal situation in which to extend understanding beyond correlation
is multivariate analysis, where the connections are known to be complex and are
usually hardly understood at all. How can visualization illuminate the situation?
The position of an object in the visual plane exhausts our first and most
valuable two dimensions. 1 The colour of an object can capture three variables.

1 Some say we can only comprehend four variables simultaneously, some say five: 'At best we
may be able to achieve perhaps five dimensions of display using a two-dimensional display plus
color. Perhaps stereo displays might achieve six dimensions and animation (time) could in some
applications present a seventh dimension. How can we display data values representing points in a
ten-dimensional data space? What kinds of display techniques demonstrate patterns in such a way
that a scientist can perceive those patterns?' (Bergeron and Grinstein, 1989, p. 393).