small multiples

The same chart repeated once per group, so you can see whether the pattern holds everywhere.

What it leaves outEach panel is small, so only a large difference survives at that size. If the panels do not share one scale, they cannot be compared.

4 · data science · cartesian · rung 4 · what isn’t there

CODAP · shipped on the platform · encoding.column -- no shape yet

Three worked examples

Does this pattern hold everywhere, or only where they showed you?

Before you lookWrite down whether you expect every latitude band to warm at the same rate.

civicspread_la_311_daily_by_month.csv · 365 rows · 3 columns

daily request counts, tagged by month

What to look atOne small chart per month, all on the same scale. The scale is the whole trick — put the months on different scales and they stop being comparable.

This example draws itself with a small script. With scripting off you can still read every word on this page, and the file itself is at data/spread_la_311_daily_by_month.csv.

earth and spacemultiples_gistemp_zonal.csv · 51 rows · 10 columns

temperature anomaly for eight bands of latitude, year by year

What to look atEight small charts, same axes. The far north warms fastest, and you only see that because every panel shares a scale.

This example draws itself with a small script. With scripting off you can still read every word on this page, and the file itself is at data/multiples_gistemp_zonal.csv.

teen healthnhis_teen_group_profiles.csv · 29 rows · 12 columns

each measure drawn once per group of teens, all on one scale

What to look atEvery panel shares a scale, which is the only reason the panels can be compared at all.

This example draws itself with a small script. With scripting off you can still read every word on this page, and the file itself is at data/nhis_teen_group_profiles.csv.

the pool

Now build one yourself.

The pool opens with this file and this shape already drawn, so your first move is to change something rather than to start from nothing. Bring your own CSV if you have one. Nothing is uploaded anywhere — the chart is drawn in your browser, your work saves there, and it downloads as a picture or as a project file you can open again.

Open the pool → small multiples · spread_la_311_daily_by_month.csv