GettingStarted
Statistics 4868/6610 Data Visualization
Prof. Eric A. Suess
January 6, 2015
Introduction
Be sure to read the Introduction to the book. The discussion about unemployment is very interested.
The figures in FIGURE 1-1 shows the change over time very nicely.
And FIGURE 1-2 show the last Map for 2009.
page XVII
So what is visualization?
Well, it depends on who you talk to. Some people say it is strictly traditional graphs and charts.
Others have a more liberal view where anything that displays data is visualization.
page XXI
Statistics isn't just about hypothesis testing
Statistics is about storytelling with data.
page XXIII
Chapter 1
Journalism is one of the main places where visualization is being used extensively. Certainly in print, but also online.
Life in New York City, Where Arrests Are Down and Tickets Are Rarities
Gapminder
Public Health.
This is Hans Roslings website.
Watch some of the videos. They are all very interesting.
Download the software and give it a try. Note that you can watch the dynamic display of the data both on a bubble graph but also on a map.
page 7
What to Look For
- Time Series plot, look for Patterns
- yahoo finance
Questionable Data
Data-checking and verification is one of the most important – if not the most important – part of graph design.
Design
Cleveland and McGill Graphical Preception and Graphical Methods for Analyzing Data
page 13
Design
- Label Axes
- Keep Your Geometry in Check - this is very important!
- Include Your Sources - give credit where credit is due
- Consider Your Audience
Simple R example
summary(cars)
speed dist
Min. : 4.0 Min. : 2.00
1st Qu.:12.0 1st Qu.: 26.00
Median :15.0 Median : 36.00
Mean :15.4 Mean : 42.98
3rd Qu.:19.0 3rd Qu.: 56.00
Max. :25.0 Max. :120.00
Simple R example
boxplot(cars)
