the strip / jitter plot

The raw values themselves, side by side, before anything is summarised.

What it leaves outThe jitter is random and it is not data. Two runs of the same chart put the same value in different places.

4 · data science · cartesian · level 4 · find what's missing · taught in no dive yet

Three worked examples

Before anything is averaged, what is actually there?

Before you lookWrite down what you expect the raw values to look like spread out.

civicspread_la_311_daily_by_month.csv · 365 rows · 3 columns

every single day's request count, by month

What to look atThe raw values themselves, before anything is summarised. Compare this with the box plot of the same data and see what the box hid.

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 spacehist_quake_magnitudes.csv · 2,508 rows · 1 columns · showing 400 of 2,508 rows on this page; the file has all of them

every earthquake magnitude, laid out along one axis

What to look at2,508 values, nothing averaged. Where they pile up is the shape.

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/hist_quake_magnitudes.csv.

teen healthteen_screens_and_sleep.csv · 68 rows · 4 columns

screen time and tiredness, for thirty-four groups of teens

What to look atTwo columns, thirty-four dots each. Screen time is a stripe -- nearly every group lands between 88 and 96 per cent. Tiredness is a spray, from 24 to 61. Everyone is on screens; not everyone is tired, so the thing that does not vary cannot be what makes the difference. Check that your explanation varies before you accept it.

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/teen_screens_and_sleep.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 → the strip / jitter plot · spread_la_311_daily_by_month.csv