✏️Nancy Organ - Collected Quotes

"A line graph looks similar to a scatterplot, but each point is connected to form a wiggly line that runs from left to right. The values on the x-axis are either ordinal or numerical data that tell us the order of each data point. The connections between each point make it easier to see how much the values on the y-axis change from one point to the next. Because line charts show data in a particular order, a line in a line chart can only have one point for each value on the x-axis." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"[...] a sunburst chart where the center is either a pie chart or a donut chart of the biggest categories surrounded in donuts that show each of the other levels. The outside donut has the leaf nodes [...]" (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"Another way to make points visible on a crowded visualization is to change the opacity of the points. This makes it easier to see where the points overlap. Opacity is a way of describing how hard it is to see though something. If it’s hard to see through, then it’s opaque or has a high opacity. Transparency is the opposite: if something is easy to see through, you can say that it is transparent." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"Fuel gauges are another common place to see data shown with angles. Depending on the direction that the needle points and how slanted it is, we can decide if it’s time to stop at the gas station. [...] Many kinds of meters, gauges, dials, knobs, and faucets tell us what’s happening by the angle of a needle, marker, or handle." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"[...] meter charts are a third type of visualization that uses angles. Meter charts, which are sometimes called gauge charts, are named after things like electric meters and gas gauges. These visualizations are shaped like donut charts with a bite taken out. They’re mostly used for showing progress toward a goal, or how empty, full, or extreme something is." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"Meter charts use angle and sometimes color to show amounts of something or progress toward a goal." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"Networks or network graphs show relationships between things using nodes and links. Nodes are similar to the points on a scatterplot - they show one data point each. Links are the lines or arrows that show how the nodes connect or relate to each other." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"Pie charts, donut charts, and meter charts are really just stacked bar charts that have been bent - but remember that they should always add up to 100%. Radar charts use angle to show categories and position to show amounts. You can also use angle with position to create charts that show movement, direction, or change - on maps and on graphs with number axes, as well as on visualizations with category axes." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"Scatterplots and bubble charts are useful for showing the relationship between variables, but they aren’t very useful for showing the ordering of data points. If you want to understand the change from point-to-point in a certain order, you’ll need to use a different type of visualization, like a line graph." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"Tree maps show networks by arranging rectangular branches and leaf nodes into a big block. Each branch in a tree map is packed with leaf nodes of the same color. Sometimes, the leaf nodes are in different sizes to show different amounts." (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)

"Visualizations that use different lengths of rectangles to show quantities are called bar charts. The rectangles in bar charts are called bars, and each bar represents a single category from a categorical variable. [...] When the bars in a bar chart are standing up, these visualizations are sometimes called column charts. Column charts and bar charts work in exactly the same way, but you might choose one over the other to fit better on a page or because it suits the data better."  (Nancy Organ, "Data Visualization for People of All Ages", 2024)