CHAPTER 3

DATA-INK RATIO
The ratio of the amount of ink used in a table or chart that is necessary to convey information to the
total amount of ink used in the table and chart. Ink used that is not necessary to convey information
reduces the data-ink ratio.

CROSSTABULATION
A tabular summary of data for two variables. The classes of one variable are represented by the rows;
the classes for the other variable are represented by the columns.

PIVOTTABLE
An interactive crosstabulation created in Excel.

SCATTER CHART
A graphical presentation of the relationship between two quantitative variables. One variable is
shown on the horizontal axis and the other on the vertical axis.

CHARTS
A visual method for displaying data; also called a graph or a figure.

LINE CHARTS
A graphical presentation of time series data in which the data points are connected by a line.

TRENDLINE
A line that provides an approximation of the relationship between variables in a chart.

SPARKLINE
A special type of line chart that indicates the trend of data but not magnitude. A sparkline does not
include axes or labels.

BAR CHARTS
A graphical presentation that uses horizontal bars to display the magnitude of quantitative data. Each
bar typically represents a class of a categorical variable.

COLUMN CHARTS
A graphical presentation that uses vertical bars to display the magnitude of quantitative data. Each
bar typically represents a class of a categorical variable.

BUBBLE CHART
A graphical presentation used to visualize three variables in a two-dimensional graph. The two axes
represent two variables, and the magnitude of the third variable is given by the size of the bubble.

PIE CHARTS
A graphical presentation used to compare categorical data. Because of difficulties in comparing
relative areas on a pie chart, these charts are not recommended. Bar or column charts are generally
superior to pie charts for comparing categorical data.

STACKED-COLUMN CHART
A special type of column (bar) chart in which multiple variables appear on the same bar.

HEAT MAP
A two-dimensional graphical presentation of data in which color shadings indicate magnitudes.

CLUSTERED-COLUMN (OR CLUSTERED-BAR) CHART

 A special type of column (bar) chart in which multiple bars are clustered in the same class to
compare multiple variables; also known as a side-by-side-column (bar) chart.
PIVOTCHARTS
A graphical presentation created in Excel that functions similarly to a PivotTable.

SCATTER-CHART MATRIX
A graphical presentation that uses multiple scatter charts arranged as a matrix to illustrate the
relationships among multiple variables.

TREEMAP
A graphical presentation that is useful for visualizing hierarchical data along multiple dimensions. A
treemap groups data according to the classes of a categorical variable and uses rectangles whose size
relates to the magnitude of a quantitative variable.

PARALLEL-COORDINATES PLOT
A graphical presentation used to examine more than two variables in which each variable is
represented by a different vertical axis. Each observation in a data set is plotted in a parallel-
coordinates plot by drawing a line between the values of each variable for the observation.

DATA DASHBOARD
A data-visualization tool that updates in real time and gives multiple outputs.

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

A system that merges maps and statistics to present data collected over different geographies.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIS)

A metric that is crucial for understanding the current performance of an organization; also known as
a key performance metric (KPM).