Graphboard Basic Tab

If you aren't sure which visualization type would best represent your data, use the Basic tab. When you select your data, you are then presented with a subset of visualization types that are appropriate for the data. For examples, see Graphboard Examples .

1. Select one or more fields (variables) from the list. Use Ctrl+Click to select multiple fields.

   Note that the measurement level of the field determines the type of visualizations that are available. You can change the measurement level by right-clicking the field in the list and choosing an option. For more information about the available measurement level types, see Field (Variable) Types .

2. Select a visualization type. For descriptions of the available types, see Available Built-in Graphboard Visualization Types .
3. For certain visualizations, you can choose a summary statistic. Different subsets of statistics are available depending on whether the statistic is count-based or calculated from a continuous field. The available statistics also depend on the template itself. A full list of statistics that may be available follows the next step.
4. If you want to define more options, such as optional aesthetics and panel fields, click Detailed. See the topic Graphboard Detailed Tab for more information.

Summary Statistics Calculated from a Continuous Field

• Mean. A measure of central tendency. The arithmetic average, the sum divided by the number of cases.
• Median. The value above and below which half of the cases fall, the 50th percentile. If there is an even number of cases, the median is the average of the two middle cases when they are sorted in ascending or descending order. The median is a measure of central tendency not sensitive to outlying values (unlike the mean, which can be affected by a few extremely high or low values).
• Mode. The most frequently occurring value. If several values share the greatest frequency of occurrence, each of them is a mode.
• Minimum. The smallest value of a numeric variable.
• Maximum. The largest value of a numeric variable.
• Range. The difference between the minimum and maximum values.
• Mid Range. The middle of the range, that is, the value whose difference from the minimum is equal to its difference from the maximum.
• Sum. The sum or total of the values, across all cases with nonmissing values.
• Cumulative Sum. The cumulative sum of the values. Each graphic element shows the sum for one subgroup plus the total sum of all previous groups.
• Percent Sum. The percentage within each subgroup based on a summed field compared to the sum across all groups.
• Cumulative Percent Sum. The cumulative percentage within each subgroup based on a summed field compared to the sum across all groups. Each graphic element shows the percentage for one subgroup plus the total percentage of all previous groups.
• Variance. A measure of dispersion around the mean, equal to the sum of squared deviations from the mean divided by one less than the number of cases. The variance is measured in units that are the square of those of the variable itself.
• Standard Deviation. A measure of dispersion around the mean. In a normal distribution, 68% of cases fall within one standard deviation of the mean and 95% of cases fall within two standard deviations. For example, if the mean age is 45, with a standard deviation of 10, 95% of the cases would be between 25 and 65 in a normal distribution.
• Standard Error. A measure of how much the value of a test statistic varies from sample to sample. It is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution for a statistic. For example, the standard error of the mean is the standard deviation of the sample means.
• Kurtosis. A measure of the extent to which there are outliers. For a normal distribution, the value of the kurtosis statistic is zero. Positive kurtosis indicates that the data exhibit more extreme outliers than a normal distribution. Negative kurtosis indicates that the data exhibit less extreme outliers than a normal distribution.
• Skewness. A measure of the asymmetry of a distribution. The normal distribution is symmetric and has a skewness value of 0. A distribution with a significant positive skewness has a long right tail. A distribution with a significant negative skewness has a long left tail. As a guideline, a skewness value more than twice its standard error is taken to indicate a departure from symmetry.

The following region statistics may result in more than one graphic element per subgroup. When using the interval, area, or edge graphic elements, a region statistic results in one graphic element showing the range. All other graphic elements result in two separate elements, one showing the start of the range and one showing the end of the range.

• Region: Range. The range of values between the minimum and maximum values.
• Region: 95% Confidence Interval of Mean. A range of values that has a 95% chance of including the population mean.
• Region: 95% Confidence Interval of Individual. A range of values that has a 95% chance of including the predicted value given the individual case.
• Region: 1 Standard Deviation above/below Mean. A range of values between 1 standard deviation above and below the mean.
• Region: 1 Standard Error above/below Mean. A range of values between 1 standard error above and below the mean.

Count-Based Summary Statistics

• Count. The number of rows/cases.
• Cumulative Count. The cumulative number of rows/cases. Each graphic element shows the count for one subgroup plus the total count of all previous groups.
• Percent of Count. The percentage of rows/cases in each subgroup compared to the total number of rows/cases.
• Cumulative Percent of Count. The cumulative percentage of rows/cases in each subgroup compared to the total number of rows/cases. Each graphic element shows the percentage for one subgroup plus the total percentage of all previous groups.