Open Access

Displaying Labeled Quantitative Data

   | Dec 31, 2019

Cite

The information world is full of labeled quantitative data, in which a number of qualitative categories are to be compared based on a quantitative variable. Their graphical representations are various and serve different audiences and purposes. Based on a simple data set and its different visualizations, we will play with the data and their visual representation. We will use well-known charts, such as a regular table, a bar plot, and a word cloud; less-know, such as Cleveland’s dot plot, a fan plot, and a text-table; and new ones, constructed for the very aim of this essay, such as a labeled rectangle plot and a ruler-like graph. Our discussion will not aim to choose the best graph but rather to show the different faces of visualizing labeled quantitative data. I hope to convince the readers that it is always worth spending a minute on pondering how to present their data.