Icon Plots

Graphical Analytic Techniques

Ribbon bar. Select the Graphs tab. In the More group, click Icons to display the Icon Plots Startup Panel.

Classic menus. On the Graphs menu, select Icon Plots to display the Icon Plots Startup Panel.

Icon graphs represent cases or units of observation as multidimensional symbols, and they offer a powerful although not easy to use exploratory technique. The general idea behind this method capitalizes on the human ability to "automatically" spot complex (sometimes interactive) relations between multiple variables if those relations are consistent across a set of instances (in this case "icons"). Sometimes the observation (or a "feeling") that certain instances are "somehow similar" to each other comes before the observer (in this case an analyst) can articulate which specific variables are responsible for the observed consistency (Lewicki, Hill, & Czyzewska, 1992). However, further analysis that focuses on such intuitively spotted consistencies can reveal the specific nature of the relevant relations between variables. For more information, see the icon plot conceptual overview.

The Icon Plots Startup Panel contains five tabs: Quick, Advanced, Appearance, Options 1, and Options 2. The following options are available regardless of which tab is selected.

OK

Click the OK button to produce the graph.

Cancel

Click the Cancel button to close the Startup Panel without creating a graph.

Options

See Options Menu for descriptions of the commands on this menu.

By Group

Click the By Group button to display the By Group specification dialog box.

Sel Cond

Click the Sel Cond button to display the Analysis/Graph Case Selection Conditions dialog box, which is used to create conditions for which cases will be included (or excluded) in the current analysis. More information is available in the case selection conditions overview and syntax summary.

Case Weights. Click the Case Weights button to display the Analysis/Graph Case Weights dialog box, which is used to adjust the contribution of individual cases to the outcome of the current analysis by "weighting" those cases in proportion to the values of a selected variable.

Graphs Gallery

Click the Graphs Gallery button to display the Statistica Graphs Gallery dialog box, which is used to easily switch among different types of graphs.

Updating

Click the Updating button to display the following menu commands:

Auto

Select Auto to disconnect the graph from the graph creation dialog box and connect the graph directly to the spreadsheet. Any changes in the spreadsheet data (including selection condition changes) will be immediately reflected in the graph.

Manual

Select Manual to disconnect the graph from the graph creation dialog box and connect the graph directly to the spreadsheet. Any changes in the spreadsheet data will be reflected in the graph only after a manual update is initiated.

Locked

Select Locked to disconnect the graph from the graph creation dialog box and connect the graph directly to the spreadsheet. The graph is linked to the spreadsheet, but will not be updated when the spreadsheet data changes.  

Analysis

Select Analysis to connect the graph to the graph creation dialog box and disconnect the graph from the spreadsheet. Changes to analysis options (such as fit type) will be applied to all graphs created by the analysis.

Analysis/Updating

Select Analysis/Updating to connect the graph to the graph creation dialog box and disconnect the graph from the spreadsheet. The analysis (while open) will update the graph when the spreadsheet data is changed. Once the analysis is closed, the graph will no longer update when the spreadsheet data is changed.

None

Select None to disconnect the graph from both the spreadsheet and graph creation dialog box.

See also, Conceptual Overviews - Icon Plots.