Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure
.
.
Church attendance (DDB Life Style Survey
-
)
with respect to style and layout. Finally, if a graphic is constructed and drawn well, it
will look good.
Figure
.
showstwosimilardisplaysofthesamedata fromtheDDBsocialsurvey
usedinRobertPutnam'sbookBowling Alone(Putnam,
).Everyyearfor
years,
different groups of
people were surveyed. Amongst other questions, they were
asked how oten they had attended church in the last year.
he let-hand graph includes gridlines and a coloured background and uses
-D
columns to represent the data counts. he right-hand graph sticks to basics. In gen-
eral, the right-hand display is to be preferred (
-D columns can cross gridlines, and
zero values would be misleadingly displayed). For these data there is not much to
choose between the two representations; both convey the same overall information.
he potential weakness in both graphics is the set of categories. Grouping the data
together in different ways could give quite different impressions.
Foragivendataset thereisnotagreat dealofadvicewhichcanbegiven oncontent
and context. hose who know their own data should know best for their specific
purposes.Itisadvisable tothink hardabout what shouldbeshownandtocheckwith
othersifthegraphicmakesthedesiredimpression.Designshouldbelettodesigners,
though some basic guidelines should be followed: consistency is important (sets of
graphics should be in similar style and use equivalent scaling); proximity is helpful
(place graphics on the same page, or on the facing page, of any text that refers to
them); and layout should be checked (graphics should be neither too small nor too
large and be attractively positioned relative to the whole page or display). Neither
content nor context nor design receives much attention in topics offering advice on
datagraphics; quiteproperlytheyconcentrate onconstruction. hischapterwill,too.
Presentation Graphics and Exploratory Graphics
2.1.2
here are two main reasons for using graphic displays of datasets: either to present
or to explore data. Presenting data involves deciding what information you want to
convey and drawing a display appropriate for the content and for the intended audi-
ence.You have to think about howthe plot might beperceived and whether it will be
understood as you wish. Plots which are common in one kind of publication may be
unfamiliar to the readers of another. here may only be space for one plot and it may
