A Simple Descriptive Method & Standard for Comparing Pairs of Stacked Bar Graphs

2019/10/25 by Ronaldo Vigo, Vigo, Ronaldo
Computer Science · #Applications (stat.AP) #Data Visualization and Analytics #FOS: Computer and information sciences

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1910.11524

openalex publication_date 2019/10/25 · openalex created_date 2024/04/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

While a plethora of research has been devoted to extoling the power and importance of data visualization, research on the effectiveness of data visualization methods from a human perceptual, and more generally, a cognitive standpoint remains largely untapped. Indeed, the way that human observers perceive and judge graphic charts can determine the interpretation of the graphed data. In this brief note we introduce a simple method for comparing stacked bar graphs based on a well-known result from cognitive science.

Related

• Visual Arrangements of Bar Charts Influence Comparisons in Viewer Takeaways
• The Arrangement of Marks Impacts Afforded Messages: Ordering, Partitioning, Spacing, and Coloring in Bar Charts
• Learning Human Detected Differences in Directed Acyclic Graphs
• Du Bois Wrapped Bar Chart: Visualizing categorical data with disproportionate values
• Two graphs walk into a bar: Readout-based measurement reveals the Bar-Tip Limit error, a common, categorical misinterpretation of mean bar graphs