Common Errors in Statistics (and How to Avoid Them), 4th Edition

ONE RULE FOR CORRECT USAGE OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL GRAPHICS

As illustrated in the previous section, the introduction of superfluous dimensions in graphics should be avoided. The prevalence of turnkey solutions in software that implement these decorative presentations is alarming. At one time, these graphics were limited to business-oriented software and presentations, but this is no longer true. Misleading illustrations are starting to appear in scientific talks. Partly, this is due to the introduction of business-oriented software in university service courses (usually demanded by the served departments). Errors abound when increased license costs for scientific- and business-oriented software lead departments to eliminate the more scientifically oriented software packages.

The reader should not necessarily interpret these statements as a mandate to avoid business-oriented software. Many of these maligned packages are perfectly capable of producing scientific plots. Our warning is that we must educate ourselves in the correct software specifications.

Three-dimensional perspective plots are very effective but require specification of a viewpoint. Experiment with various viewpoints to highlight the properties of interest. Mathematical functions lend themselves to three-dimensional surface-type plots, whereas raw data are typically better illustrated with contour plots. This is especially true for map data such as surface temperatures or surface wind (where arrows can denote direction ...