SPSS Statistics for Data Analysis and Visualization

Chapter 7 Mapping in IBM SPSS Statistics

As researchers, it is very important that we are able to communicate our findings. Typically we hold meetings or write reports that allow others to understand what we have found. Graphs allow researchers to summarize data quickly and easily. Graphs also allow you to visualize data to better understand relationships among variables.

SPSS Statistics has several procedures that allow users to create graphs (for example, the Chart Builder, the Legacy Graphs, and the Graphboard Template Chooser). The standard graphs and charts in SPSS Statistics are complete entities, so that users need to know what they want to show in a graph before they create it. For example, I might want to create a scatterplot or a bar chart, so when using the Chart Builder or a Legacy Graph, I would choose a scatterplot or a bar chart type, and all the available elements of the graph would be chosen for me (of course the elements can be manipulated or removed using the Chart Editor).

The Graphboard Template Chooser, on the other hand, defines structure and elements of a graphic, not the entire graphic. For example, I may want to show the relationship between two categorical variables and one continuous variable, and I might want to display the mean for this combination of variables. With the Graphboard Template Chooser, users explore how best to visualize their data, or the Graphboard Template Chooser can recommend potential visualizations depending on the type(s) ...