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| From | Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com> |
| To | "statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu" <statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu> |
| Subject | Re: st: Bar graph |
| Date | Tue, 4 Jun 2013 16:07:54 +0100 |
It would perhaps be more interesting to spell out why I think this is often a poor kind of graph. As so often happens, the popularity of a graph bears essentially no relationship to its utility. For example, people have been explaining at length for a century or so that pie charts are a bad idea but it doesn't seem to have had much effect. Perhaps it is time for satire, not logic: see http://eagerpies.com/ The objection to pyramids is this. So, you want to compare values for males or females (or whatever), but a pyramid design requires you to pick up one bar and mentally superimpose it on another. I don't think we are very good at this on the whole. In demography, this is especially absurd, because very often the numbers of males and females are similar, yet differences of the order of 1% can be interesting and important. Better designs are to 1. Superimpose directly, e.g. using -graph dot-. 2. Calculate the difference (or ratio) and look at that directly. Nick njcoxstata@gmail.com On 4 June 2013 15:43, Nick Cox <njcoxstata@gmail.com> wrote: > I wrote a program -slideplot- (SSC) a while back. > > I am no longer fond of this approach, so have not really developed it > since. But the program is still lurking there, heedless of my lack of > affection. > > An overarching comment is that if -graph hbar- gets awkward, you > should switch to -twoway rbar-. > Nick > njcoxstata@gmail.com > > > On 4 June 2013 15:19, Jörg Eulenberger <j.eulenberger@web.de> wrote: >> >> Dear Statalisters, >> i want to draw a graph like a Agepyramid to compare two groups, like this: >> http://www.martensville.ca/images/pages/N211/age%20pyramid.jpg >> >> But i don't want on the left side the Agegroups. I need on the left >> side different Items. Each row should show the values of one item, on >> the one side the value of man and on the otherside the value for woman. >> >> The Graph i want is on page 23: >> http://wcms.uzi.uni-halle.de/download.php?down=13415&elem=2248245 >> >> Know every one a solution or a graph command? >> Thanks a lot, >> Jörg >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> * >> * For searches and help try: >> * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search >> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/ >> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/ * * For searches and help try: * http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/resources/statalist-faq/ * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/