Scatter plots and dot plots

Several broad categories of charts are created with the point graphic element.

Scatter plots: Scatter plots are useful for plotting multivariate data. They can help you determine potential relationships among scale variables. A simple scatter plot uses a 2-D coordinate system to plot two variables. A 3-D scatter plot uses a 3-D coordinate system to plot three variables. When you need to plot more variables, you can try overlay scatter plots and scatter plot matrices (SPLOMs). An overlay scatter plot displays overlaid pairs of X-Y variables, with each pair distinguished by color or shape. A SPLOM creates a matrix of 2-D scatter plots, with each variable plotted against every other variable in the SPLOM.
Dot plots: Like histograms, dot plots are useful for showing the distribution of a single scale variable. The data are binned, but, instead of one value for each bin (like a count), all of the points in each bin are displayed and stacked. These graphs are sometimes called density plots.
Summary point plots: Summary point plots are similar to bar charts, except that points are drawn in place of the top of the bars. For more information, see Bar charts.
Drop-line charts: Drop-line charts are a special type of summary point plot. The points are grouped and a line is drawn through the points in each category. The drop-line chart is useful for comparing a statistic across categorical variables.

Creating a simple scatter plot

In the Chart Type section, click the Scatter plot icon.
The canvas updates to display a scatter plot chart template.
Select a scale variable as the X-axis variable.
Select a scale variable as the Y-axis variable. You do not need to specify a statistic because scatter plots typically show raw values.
Click the Save visualization in the project control. Select Create a new asset or Append to existing asset. Provide a Visualization asset name, an optional description, and a chart name.
Click Apply to save the visualization to the project. The new visualization asset is now available on the Assets tab.

Options

X-axis

Lists variables that are available for the chart's X-axis.

Y-axis

Lists variables that are available for the chart's Y-axis.

Color map

Lists available color map variables. These variables use color progression, based on the range of values in the specified column, to represent themselves in the plot points. Color maps are also known as choropleth maps.

Size map

Lists available size map variables. These variables use differing sizes to represent themselves in the plot points.

Shape map

Lists available shape map variables. These variables use differing shapes to represent themselves in the plot points.

Fit line

In a fit line, the data points are fitted to a line that usually does not pass through all of the data points. The fit line represents the trend of the data. Some fits lines are regression-based. Others are based on iterative weighted least squares. Select a fit line option from the drop-down list.

Gradient bubble

The toggle control enables and disables the display of color gradients and 3D effects in the chart bubbles. The setting is not available when a Color map variable is selected.

Minimum bubble size

Sets the minimum bubble size. Enter a value the range 5 - 20.

Maximum bubble size

Sets the maximum bubble size. Enter a value in the range 20 - 80.

Show reference line

When enabled, the option shows a reference line on the chart that is based on the specified xAxis and yAxis values.

Enter a reference line value on xAxis: When Show reference line is enabled, this setting provides the option of specifying a specific reference line value for the X-axis. Click Add another column to specify more reference line values.
Enter a reference line value on yAxis: When Show reference line is enabled, this setting provides the option of specifying a specific reference line value for the Y-axis. Click Add another column to specify more reference line values.

Show label

When enabled, column labels display on the chart. Only scatter series data is supported.

Label field

The field menu provides variables to display as chart labels.

Primary title

The chart title.

Subtitle

The chart subtitle.

Footnote

The chart footnote.

XAxis label

The x-axis label.

YAxis label

The y-axis label.