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CHAPTER 3
DATA VISUALIZATION

Analysis Process
Decide what to
Pose a question measure and Collecting data
how to measure?

Summarizing,
Visualizing
data

Interpreting Analyzing
results data

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Introduction
Data visualization involves:
◦ Creating a summary table for the data
◦ Generating charts to help interpret, analyze,
and learn from the data
Uses of data visualization:
◦ Helpful for identifying data errors
◦ Reduces the size of your data set by
highlighting important relationships and
trends in the data

Overview of Data
Visualization
EFFECTIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUES

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Overview of Data Visualization

Data-ink ratio: Measures the proportion of what Tufte terms
“data-ink” to the total amount of ink used in a table or chart
◦ Edward R. Tufte first described the data-ink ratio
◦ Helpful for creating effective tables and charts for data
visualization
 Data-ink: Ink used in a table or chart that is necessary
to convey the meaning of the data to the audience
 Non-data-ink: Ink used in a table or chart that serves no
useful purpose in conveying the data to the audience

Table 3.1: Example of a Low Data-Ink Ratio Table

Figure 3.3: Example of a Low Data-Ink Ratio Chart

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Table 3.2: Increasing the Data-Ink Ratio by Removing

Unnecessary Gridlines
Figure 3.4: Increasing the Data-Ink Ratio by Adding Labels to
Axes and Removing Unnecessary Lines and Labels

Tables

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Tables
Tables should be used when:
1. The reader needs to refer to specific numerical values
2. The reader needs to make precise comparisons
between different values and not just relative
comparisons
3. The values being displayed have different units or very
different magnitudes

Table 3.3: Table Showing Exact Values for Costs and Revenues
by Month for Gossamer Industries
Figure 3.5: Line Chart of Monthly Costs and Revenues at
Gossamer Industries

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Figure 3.6: Combined Line Chart and Table for

Monthly Costs and Revenues at Gossamer Industries

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Table 3.4: Table Displaying Head Count, Costs,

and Revenues at Gossamer Industries

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Tables
Table Design Principles
◦ Avoid using vertical lines in a table unless they
are necessary for clarity
◦ Horizontal lines are generally necessary only for
separating column titles from data values or
when indicating that a calculation has taken
place

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Figure 3.7: Comparing Different Table

Designs

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Table 3.5: Larger Table Showing Revenues

by Location for 12 Months of Data

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Table 3.6: Quality Rating and Meal Price for

300 Los Angeles Restaurants

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Table 3.7: Table of Quality Rating and Meal Price

for 300 Los Angeles Restaurants

crosstabulation

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Table 3.7: Table of Quality Rating and Meal Price

for 300 Los Angeles Restaurants

Insights gained from the crosstabulation

 The greatest number of restaurants in the sample (64) have a

very good rating and a meal price in the $20–29 range
 Only two restaurants have an excellent rating and a meal
price in the $10–19 range
 The right and bottom margins of the crosstabulation give the
frequency of quality rating and meal price separately

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Tables
Crosstabulation: A useful type of table for
describing data of two variables
PivotTable: A crosstabulation in Microsoft
Excel

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Figure 3.8: Excel Worksheet Containing

Restaurant Data

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Figure 3.9: Initial PivotTable Field List and

PivotTable Field Report for the Restaurant Data

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Figure 3.10: Completed PivotTable Field List and A

Portion of the PivotTable Report for the Restaurant
Data (Columns H:AK are Hidden)

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Figure 3.11: Final PivotTable Report for the

Restaurant Data

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Figure 3.12: Percent Frequency Distribution as

a PivotTable for the Restaurant Data

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Figure 3.13: PivotTable Report for the Restaurant

Data with Average Wait Times Added

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Charts

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Table 3.8: Sample Data for the San Francisco

Electronics Store

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Figure 3.17: Chart for the San Francisco

Electronics Store

Scatter
Trendline chart

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Charts
Charts (or graphs): Visual methods of displaying data
Scatter chart: Graphical presentation of the relationship
between two quantitative variables
Trendline: A line that provides an approximation of the
relationship between the variables

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Table 3.9: Monthly Sales Data of Air

Compressors at Kirkland Industries

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Figure 3.19: Charts for Monthly Sales Data

at Kirkland Industries

Scatter chart
Line chart

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Charts
Line chart: A line connects the points in the chart
◦ Useful for time series data collected over a
period of time (minutes, hours, days, years,
etc.)

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Table 3.10: Regional Sales Data by Month

for Air Compressors at Kirkland Industries

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Figure 3.21: Line Chart of Regional Sales

Data at Kirkland Industries

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Charts
Sparkline: Special type of line chart
◦ Minimalist type of line chart that can be placed
directly into a cell in Excel
◦ Contain no axes; they display only the line for the
data
◦ Take up very little space and they can be effectively
used to provide information on overall trends for
time series data

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Figure 3.22: Sparklines for the Regional

Sales Data at Kirkland Industries

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Figure 3.23: Charts for Accounts Managed

Data

Bar chart

Gentry manages the greatest

number of accounts and
Williams the fewest

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Charts
Bar Charts: Use horizontal bars to display the magnitude
of the quantitative variable
Column Charts: Use vertical bars to display the
magnitude of the quantitative variable
Bar and column charts are very helpful in making
comparisons between categorical variables

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Figure 3.24: Sorted Bar Chart for Accounts

Managed Data

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Figure 3.25: Bar Chart with Data Labels for

Accounts Managed Data

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Figure 3.21: Chart of Accounts

Managed

Pie
chart

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Charts
Pie charts: Common form of chart used to
compare categorical data

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Table 3.11: Sample Data on Billionaires per

Country

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Figure 3.27: Chart Comparing Billionaires by

Country

Bubble
chart

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Figure 3.27: Bubble Chart Comparing

Billionaires by Country

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Charts
Bubble chart:
◦ Graphical means of visualizing three variables in a
two-dimensional graph
◦ Sometimes a preferred alternative to a 3-D graph

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Figure 3.28: Heat Map and Sparklines

for Same-Store Sales Data

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Charts
Heat map: A two-dimensional graphical
representation of data that uses different shades
of color to indicate magnitude

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Charts
Additional Charts for Multiple Variables
◦ Stacked column chart: Allows the reader to
compare the relative values of quantitative
variables for the same category in a bar chart
◦ Clustered column (or bar) chart: An
alternative chart to stacked column chart for
comparing quantitative variables
◦ Scatter chart matrix: Useful chart for
displaying multiple variables

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Figure 3.25: Stacked-Column Chart for

Regional Sales Data for Kirkland Industries

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Figure 3.30: Comparing Stacked-, Clustered-, and

Multiple-Column Charts for the Regional Sales
Data for Kirkland Industries

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Table 3.12:
Data for New York City Subboroughs

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Figure 3.31: Scatter-Chart Matrix for New

York City Rent Data

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Charts
PivotCharts in Excel
PivotChart: To summarize and analyze data with
both a crosstabulation and charting, Excel pairs
PivotCharts with PivotTables

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Figure 3.32: PivotTable and PivotChart for

the Restaurant Data

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Advanced Data
Visualization
ADVANCED CHARTS
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
CHARTS

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Advanced Data Visualization

Parallel-coordinates plot: Chart for examining data with more than
two variables
◦ Includes a different vertical axis for each variable
◦ Each observation is represented by drawing a line on the parallel
coordinates plot connecting each vertical axis
◦ The height of the line on each vertical axis represents the value taken
by that observation for the variable corresponding to the vertical axis

Treemap: Useful for visualizing hierarchical data along multiple

dimensions

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Figure 3.33: Parallel Coordinates Plot for

Baseball Data

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Figure 3.34: SmartMoney’s Map of the

Market as an Example of a Treemap

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Advanced Data Visualization

Geographic Information Systems Charts
◦ Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A
system that merges maps and statistics to
present data collected over different
geographies
◦ Helps in interpreting data and observing
patterns

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Figure 3.35: GIS Chart for Cincinnati Zoo

Member Data

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Data Dashboards
 PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE DATA
DASHBOARDS
 APPLICATION OF DATA DASHBOARDS

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Data Dashboards
Data dashboard: Data visualization tool that illustrates
multiple metrics and automatically updates these metrics
as new data become available
Key performance indicators (KPIs) in dashboards:
◦ Automobile dashboard: Current speed, Fuel
level, and oil pressure
◦ Business dashboard: Financial position,
inventory on hand, customer service metrics

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Data Dashboards
Principles of Effective Data Dashboards
◦ Should provide timely summary information on KPIs that are
important to the user
◦ Should present all KPIs as a single screen that a user can quickly
scan to understand the business’s current state of operations
◦ The KPIs displayed in the data dashboard should convey
meaning to its user and be related to the decisions the user
makes
◦ A data dashboard should call attention to unusual measures
that may require attention
◦ Color should be used to call attention to specific values to
differentiate categorical variables, but the use of color should
be restrained

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Figure 3.36: Data Dashboard for the Grogan Oil

Information Technology Call Center

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