Higher dimensions

Understanding Data Visualization

Richie Cotton

Data Evangelist at DataCamp

The UN life expectancy scatter plots

A scatter plot of average life expectancy versus average length of schooling, with a linear trend line.

A scatter plot of average life expectancy versus gross national income per capita, with linear and LOESS trend lines.

3D scatter plots

A 3D scatter plot of life expectancy versus gross national income and length of schooling. It's a mess.

Another 3D scatter plot of life expectancy versus gross national income and length of schooling, from a different perspective. It's also a mess.

x and y are not the only dimensions

Points also have these dimensions

color
size
transparency
shape

Color

Scatter plot of life expectancy versus GNI with life expectancy as a color axis

Size

Scatter plot of life expectancy versus GNI with life expectancy represented by size

Transparency

Scatter plot of life expectancy versus GNI with life expectancy represented by transparency

Shape

Scatter plot of life expectancy versus GNI with life expectancy represented by shape

Lots of panels

Scatter plot of life expectancy versus GNI divided into panels by life expectancy

Even more panels

Scatter plot of life expectancy versus GNI divided into panels by life expectancy with age range of 5

Other dimensions for line plots

color
thickness
transparency
line type (solid, dashes, dots)

Color

A line plot of technology adoption by households in the United States. The x-axis runs from 1930 to 1970, and the y-axis runs from 0 to 100 percent. There are four lines representing adoption of automobiles, refrigerators, stoves, and vacuums.

Linetype

A line plot of technology adoption using linetype to distinguish technology type

Let's practice!

Understanding Data Visualization