Posts tagged as:

scatterplot

10 x 10 tips to improve your (Excel or not) charts: the scatter plot

by Jorge

This is the time for scatter plots in the 10 x 10 charting tips series:

  1. A scatter plot is square by definition (I forget that sometimes…);
  2. In some cases, it makes more sense to use a scatter plot than two column charts: for example, instead of having a column chart to display product market share and another chart to display product growth, consider merging both into a scatter plot (market share on the x axis and growth on the y axis);
  3. If you are plotting several data series, color code them instead of using different markers…
  4. … but consider using several charts;
  5. In scatter plots, use empty circles as markers to let the reader see the overlapping points;
  6. Use a scatter plot matrix to analyze pairwise relationships between series;
  7. Use a scatter plot as an alternative to horizontal bar charts, like in a population pyramid;
  8. If needed, use a scatter plot instead of a line chart if you have an unevenly-spaced time series;
  9. You can use a scatter plot to create a basic map;
  10. An outline can ruin your scatter plot. If possible, remove it and explain it;

As you can see, you can use a scatter plot in Excel to create many other charts. Just use your imagination and share it in the comments.

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Geo-scatterplot or the poor man's GIS

by Jorge

geo_scatterplot This is an Excel scatterplot. Each point is one of the 4200 Portuguese civil parishes. The green point shows the active parish and the red ones some parishes that may have a similar profile. Of course, if you select a different parish the red set also changes.

I like this idea of displaying geographic coordinates in a scatter plot and by that be able to see some (very basic) geographic patterns. Just by plotting the coordinates you get an idea of how the territory is structured and you can start asking questions (“why is the north so different from the south?”). By providing some more data (color coding the data points) we can add complexity to our questions.

If you think there may be a spatial pattern in your data and you (or the users) can’t have access to GIS software, or you just don’t want to learn another application, this technique could come in handy.

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