Business Analytics

Data Visualization

Lecture # 10
TOPICS to be COVERED

01 Overview of Data Visualization

02 Tables

03 Charts

04 Advanced Data Visualization

05 Data Dashboards
 Introduction

• Data visualization involves:

– Creating a summary table for the data
– Generating charts to help interpret, analyze, and learn from the
data
• Uses of data visualization:
– Helpful for identifying data errors
– Reduces the size of your data set by highlighting important
relationships and trends in the data
Effective Design Techniques

OVERVIEW OF DATA VISUALIZATION

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 Overview of Data Visualization

Data-ink ratio: Measures the proportion of what Tufte terms

“data-ink” to the total amount of ink used in a table or chart
– Edward R. Tufte first described the data-ink ratio
– Helpful for creating effective tables and charts for data visualization
• Data-ink: Ink used in a table or chart that is necessary to convey the meaning
of the data to the audience
• Non-data-ink: Ink used in a table or chart that serves no useful purpose in
conveying the data to the audience
 Table 3.1: Example of a Low Data-Ink Ratio Table
Figure 3.3: Example of a Low Data-Ink Ratio Chart
Table 3.2: Increasing the Data-Ink Ratio by Removing Unnecessary Gridlines
Figure 3.4: Increasing the Data-Ink Ratio by Adding Labels to Axes and
Removing Unnecessary Lines and Labels
Table Design Principles
Crosstabulation
Pivot Tables in Excel
Recommended Pivot Table in Excel

TABLES

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 Tables

Tables should be used when:

1. The reader needs to refer to specific numerical values
2. The reader needs to make precise comparisons between
different values and not just relative comparisons
3. The values being displayed have different units or very
different magnitudes
 Table 3.3: Table Showing Exact Values for Costs and Revenues by
Month for Gossamer Industries
Figure 3.5: Line Chart of Monthly Costs and Revenues at Gossamer
Industries
Figure 3.6: Combined Line Chart and Table for Monthly
Costs and Revenues at Gossamer Industries
Table 3.4: Table Displaying Head Count, Costs, and
Revenues at Gossamer Industries
 Tables

Table Design Principles

– Avoid using vertical lines in a table unless they are necessary for clarity
– Horizontal lines are generally necessary only for separating column titles
from data values or when indicating that a calculation has taken place
Figure 3.7: Comparing Different Table Designs
Table 3.5: Larger Table Showing Revenues by Location
for 12 Months of Data
 Tables

• Crosstabulation: A useful type of table for describing data of two

variables
• PivotTable: A crosstabulation in Microsoft Excel
Table 3.6: Quality Rating and Meal Price for 300 Los
Angeles Restaurants
 Table 3.7: Crosstabulation of Quality Rating and Meal
Price for 300 Los Angeles Restaurants

• The greatest number of restaurants in the sample (64) have a very good rating
and a meal price in the $20–29 range
• Only two restaurants have an excellent rating and a meal price in the $10–19
range
• The right and bottom margins of the crosstabulation give the frequency of
quality rating and meal price separately
Figure 3.8: Excel Worksheet Containing
Restaurant Data
Figure 3.9: Initial PivotTable Field List and PivotTable Field
Report for the Restaurant Data
 Figure 3.10: Completed PivotTable Field List and A Portion of the
PivotTable Report for the Restaurant Data (Columns H:AK are Hidden)
 Figure 3.11:
Final PivotTable Report for the Restaurant Data
Figure 3.12: Percent Frequency Distribution as a
PivotTable for the Restaurant Data
Figure 3.13: PivotTable Report for the Restaurant Data
with Average Wait Times Added
Scatter Charts
Recommended Charts in Excel Bubble Charts
Line Charts Heat Maps
Bar Charts and Column Charts Additional Charts for Multiple Variables
A Note on Pie Charts and Three Dimensional Charts PivotCharts in Excel

CHARTS

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 Charts

• Charts (or graphs): Visual methods of displaying data

• Scatter chart: Graphical presentation of the relationship
between two quantitative variables
• Trendline: A line that provides an approximation of the
relationship between the variables
• Line chart: A line connects the points in the chart
– Useful for time series data collected over a period of time (minutes,
hours, days, years, etc.)
Table 3.8: Sample Data for the San Francisco Electronics
Store
Figure 3.17: Scatter Chart for the San Francisco
Electronics Store
Table 3.9: Monthly Sales Data of Air Compressors at
Kirkland Industries
Figure 3.19: Scatter Chart and Line Chart for Monthly
Sales Data at Kirkland Industries
Table 3.10: Regional Sales Data by Month for Air
Compressors at Kirkland Industries
Figure 3.21: Line Chart of Regional Sales Data at
Kirkland Industries
 Charts

Sparkline: Special type of line chart

– Minimalist type of line chart that can be placed directly into a cell in
Excel
– Contain no axes; they display only the line for the data
– Take up very little space and they can be effectively used to provide
information on overall trends for time series data
Figure 3.22: Sparklines for the Regional Sales Data at
Kirkland Industries
 Charts

• Bar Charts: Use horizontal bars to display the magnitude of the

quantitative variable
• Column Charts: Use vertical bars to display the magnitude of
the quantitative variable
• Bar and column charts are very helpful in making comparisons
between categorical variables
 Figure 3.23:
Bar Charts for Accounts Managed Data

Gentry manages the

greatest number of
accounts and Williams the
fewest
 Figure 3.24:
Sorted Bar Chart for Accounts Managed Data
Figure 3.25: Bar Chart with Data Labels for Accounts
Managed Data
 Charts

• Pie charts: Common form of chart used to compare categorical

data
• Bubble chart:
– Graphical means of visualizing three variables in a two-dimensional graph
– Sometimes a preferred alternative to a 3-D graph
• Heat map: A two-dimensional graphical representation of data
that uses different shades of color to indicate magnitude
Figure 3.21: Pie Chart of Accounts Managed
 Table 3.11:
Sample Data on Billionaires per Country
Figure 3.27: Bubble Chart Comparing Billionaires
by Country
 Figure 3.27:
Bubble Chart Comparing Billionaires by Country
Figure 3.28: Heat Map and Sparklines for Same-Store
Sales Data
 Charts

Additional Charts for Multiple Variables

– Stacked column chart: Allows the reader to compare the relative
values of quantitative variables for the same category in a bar chart
– Clustered column (or bar) chart: An alternative chart to stacked
column chart for comparing quantitative variables
– Scatter chart matrix: Useful chart for displaying multiple variables
Figure 3.25: Stacked-Column Chart for Regional Sales
Data for Kirkland Industries
Figure 3.30: Comparing Stacked-, Clustered-, and Multiple-Column
Charts for the Regional Sales Data for Kirkland Industries
 Table 3.12:
Data for New York City Subboroughs
 Charts

PivotCharts in Excel
PivotChart: To summarize and analyze data with both a crosstabulation
and charting, Excel pairs PivotCharts with PivotTables
Figure 3.32: PivotTable and PivotChart for the
Restaurant Data