Just some notes on the various types of plots etc.

Statistical plots

Statistical plots are used for basic descriptive statistics and data analysis of a dataset.

• Bar Graph:

  • used to display numerical quantities on one axis and categorical variables on the other axis.
  • shows the number of occurences for the different categories.

• Pie Chart:

  • breaks down a whole sample of data points into different categories with each category represented as a percentage of the whole.
  • the sections must add up to 100%
  • used for showing proportional data.

• Histogram:

  • shows the distribution and shape of continuous data.
  • uses bars where each bar groups numbers into ranges
  • for quantitative data, not categorical data

• Scatterplot:

  • shows the relationship between two quantitative continuous variables in a dataset.
  • Each dot represents a sample point where the x-values and y-values interact

• Boxplots:

  • shows how continuous quantitative data is distributed

  • shows central tendency, symmetry, skew of the data and any outliers.

  • also known as box and whisker plots.

  • the median is clearly shown by a a line through the box

  • the box shows the the 1st and 3rd quartiles of the distribution

  • the whiskers show the entire range of the distribution between the minimum and maximum values, excluding the outliers

  • outliers are shown on the plot as points outside the whiskers

  • the interquartile values

• Violin plots:

  • modified box-plots
  • shows the distribution as well as the probability density of the data
  • a dot in the middle shows the median value
  • also shows the distribution of the upper quartile range
  • the width of the distribution shows the probability of getting different values when sampling.

• Networks and Graphs:

  • a Graph is a data structure consisting of nodes and edges which store data points as well as the relationships between them.
  • used for data with structure relationships where certain data points / nodes having links to other nodes.
  • used for visualising relationships in social networks or for any data that has relationships.

• Geographical:

  • visualise the occurence of a variable across geographical regions

• 3D plots:

  • used for exploring relationships between more than two variables.
  • contour plots
  • correlation plots

• Interactive plots:

  • to visualise more complex relationships
  • zoom in and out
  • toggle different variables on and off
  • rotate