Variables
Click the
Variables button to display a variable selection dialog box, in which you select the
Dependent variable and the
Grouping variable for creating the graph.
The dependent variable values will be used in calculating the respective statistics that define the components of the graph (e.g., means, medians, standard deviations, etc.), while the grouping variable will be used to categorize the data, using the method of categorization as selected via the options in the
Grouping intervals group. Note that more than one dependent variable can be selected and selection of the
Grouping variable is optional. If you select multiple dependent variables and the
Regular graph format (see above), a sequence of
Means with Error Plots (one for each dependent variable) will be produced in separate graphs. If the graph
Format is set to
Multiple, then the
Means with Error Plots for all the selected dependent variables will be combined into a single graph. The selection of variables that you make will be displayed in the area of the dialog box below the
Variables button.
Graph type
Select the type of Mean with Error Plot to be plotted from the
Graph type list. Click a link below for a brief description of that type of graph.
Whiskers
High-Low Close
Columns
You can also choose between two types of graph formats. Click a link below to learn more about it.
Regular
Multiple
The choice of the combination of the
Graph type and format will depend on the objective you have in mind. For example, if you have selected more than one dependent variable and your aim is to compare their distributions, you may select
Whiskers with
Multiple graph format.
Grouping intervals
Use the options in this group box to select a method (Integer mode, Unique Values, Categories, or Codes ) to define the manner in which the values in the chosen grouping variable will be used to determine the categories for the graph; additional options are available on the
Advanced
tab. Note that separate means (medians, etc., as chosen by the user) will be computed for each group as defined by the values in the grouping variable. The methods for categorizing the values in the grouping variable are discussed in detail in Methods of Categorization.
Whisker
The options in this group box are used to specify the range of
Whiskers or
High-Low Close, i.e., to define the error ranges.
Value
Use the
Value drop-down box to specify how the range of
Whiskers or
High-Low Close are computed (Conf. Interval,
Non-outlier range,
Min-max, or
Constant). If you select Conf. Interval, the range will be displayed as the confidence interval around the mean value. If you select
Non-outlier range, Statistica determines which points in the data are outliers (see Outliers and extremes), and then uses the highest and lowest data points that are closest to the outliers (but are not outliers) to determine the range in the plot. On the other hand, the option
Min-Max uses the minimum and maximum values of the data to determine the range, without considering whether or not these values are outliers. If you choose option
Constant, the specified constant will be added/subtracted from the chosen center point (mean or median), to define the range around that center point.
Probability/Coefficient
If you specify the
Value option (see above) as Conf. Interval, you also need to specify a value between 0.15 and .99 in the
Probability edit field. This value will be used to determine the length of the
Whiskers or
High-Low Close around the Mean value, based on the standard error for the respective means, and the standard normal (
z) value associated with the chosen probability. When you specify the
Value as
Non-outlier range or
Min-max (see above), you also need to specify a value in the
Coefficient edit field by which the selected
Value will be multiplied to determine the range. If the
Value option is specified as
Constant, the value of the
Coefficient itself determines the range (no multiplier is used). By default the value of the
Coefficient is 1.
Frequency / severity plot. When this check box is selected, a line of means is overlaid on the histogram. The line doesn't show raw values, but is relative to the mean in the most frequent category.
Layout. Select the type of layout for the graph(s).
Separate
Select this option button to produce a
Separate plot layout (where each subset of cases is displayed in a separate graph) for the categorized plots.
Overlaid
Select this option button to produce an
Overlaid plot layout (where all subsets are overlaid in one graph and identified by patterns and colors) for the categorized plots.
Note: The graph icon displayed represents the currently selected
Graph type (Whiskers or
High-Low Close) and the
Mean. It also previews the selected
Value (Conf. Interval,
Non-outlier range,
Min-max, or
Constant) that will define the Mean with Error Plot that you are about to create as specified in the
Whisker group box.
Options / C / W. See Common Options.
OK. Click this button to accept all the specifications made in the dialog box and to close it. The results are placed in the
Reporting Documents node after running (updating) the project.
See also,
Advanced
tab,
Appearance
tab,
Categorized
tab,
Options 1
tab,
Options 2
tab, and
Home
tab.