the table

Every value, exactly as it was recorded. Nothing is summarised and nothing is hidden.

What it leaves outIt shows every value and no shape. Forty rows can hide a pattern that one chart makes obvious.

1 · basics · rung 1 · what’s there

GAISE II · Level A p.23 · shipped on the platform · -- no shape yet --

Three worked examples

Everything is here. So what is the most common request?

Before you lookGive the class ninety seconds with the table. Everyone writes their answer and how confident they are.

civictable_la_311_sample.csv · 40 rows · 6 columns

forty raw service requests, exactly as the city recorded them

What to look atEvery value is here and no pattern is. Scan the request types and try to say which is most common — then draw it and see how much faster that was.

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/table_la_311_sample.csv.

earth and spacetable_quakes_full.csv · 2,508 rows · 6 columns · showing 400 of 2,508 rows on this page; the file has all of them

every one of 2,508 earthquakes, with time, place, depth and magnitude

What to look atThis is the file every other earthquake chart on this site is made from. Nothing is summarised and nothing is hidden.

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/table_quakes_full.csv.

teen healthnhis_teen_estimates.csv · 1,700 rows · 9 columns · showing 400 of 1,700 rows on this page; the file has all of them

all 1,700 published estimates, exactly as NCHS released them

What to look atLook for the rows with a blank percentage. NCHS suppressed 71 estimates because too few teens in that group answered. Who got left out is a finding.

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_estimates.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 table · table_la_311_sample.csv