Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure
.
.
Pictogram by Otto Neurath of the number of cars in the USA and the rest of the world in
,
, and
Literature
2.2.2
Severalauthorshavewrittenexcellent topics ondrawinggoodstatistical graphics,the
bestknown,justifiably,beingEdwardTute.Hisbooks(e.g.Tute,
)includemany
splendid examples (and a few dreadful ones) and describe important principles on
howtodrawgoodgraphics. Tutecriticizes unsuitable decoration anddata misrepre-
sentation, buthisadvice isrestricted torepresenting data properly.Cleveland's topics
[forinstance, Cleveland (
)another useful source ofadvice on preparing data dis-
plays] are equally valuable. And this is the way it should be. Statisticians should con-
centrate on getting the basic statistical display right, and designers may be consulted
to produce a polished final version.
While there is a place for applied topics full of sound practical advice [other use-
fulreferences includeBurn (
),Kosslyn (
),and Robbins (
)],there isalso
aneed fortheory toprovideformalstructures forunderstanding practiceandtopro-
vide a foundation from which progress can be made. Graphics must be one of the
few areas in statistics where there is little such theory. Bertin's major work (Semiolo-
gie Graphique) from
contains a number of interesting ideas and is oten cited,
but it is di
cult to point to later work that directly extends it. Wilkinson's Grammar
of Graphics has received a lot of attention and been quickly revised in a substantially
expanded second edition (Wilkinson,
).
Ifthereislittletheory, then examples becomeparticularly important toshowwhat
canbeachieved.hetwo topics by Wainer(
,
)containcollectionsofcolumns
first published in Chance and offer instructive and entertaining examples. Friendly's
Gallery of Statistical Visualization (http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/) in-
cludes many examples, both good and bad, chronicling the history of graphical de-
velopments. he websites ASK E.T. (http://www.edwardtute.com) and Junk Charts
(http://junkcharts.typepad.com) provide lively discussions and sage advice for par-
