JSM Preliminary Online Program
This is the preliminary program for the 2008 Joint Statistical Meetings in Denver, Colorado.

The views expressed here are those of the individual authors
and not necessarily those of the ASA or its board, officers, or staff.


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Legend: = Applied Session, = Theme Session, = Presenter
Colorado Convention Center = “CC”, Hyatt = “HY”

CE_22C Tue, 8/5/08, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM CC-204
Fundamental Statistics Concepts in Presenting Data: Principles for Constructing Better Graphics - Continuing Education - Course
ASA, Section on Statistical Graphics
Instructor(s): Rafe Donahue, Vanderbilt University
Data displays are mental models for understanding distributions of data. At the heart of any data display lays the distribution of the data; a model for this distribution includes demonstrating and exposing sources of variation in the distribution. Like a good map, a display of data ought to operate on several levels. At the lowest level (the highest level of granularity) are the data, themselves. Further up are the actual distributions, each with its component summaries, such as the mean or relevant quantiles. At the highest level are sources of variation in these distributions, the parameters in the (mental) model for understanding the data. The closer an architect can come to showing all these levels, the more information will be conveyed. I will present a number of principles, both developed by the masters (e.g., Minard, Tufte, Cleveland, Wilkinson, Wainer) and discovered by me, for constructing displays that will allow the architect of the data display to present the data for improved understanding; it will not be a "Don't use pie charts" or "Here's a bad graph from USA Today" course. We will focus on uncovering and formulating principles for presenting data visually. Examples will abound.
 

JSM 2008 For information, contact jsm@amstat.org or phone (888) 231-3473. If you have questions about the Continuing Education program, please contact the Education Department.
Revised September, 2008