Visualizing Graph Data

Chapter 10. Graphs on maps: the where of graph visualization

This chapter covers

• How to display geographic data
• The pros and cons of showing graphs on maps
• Implementing graphs and maps in KeyLines

Data visualization is about using data to answer questions. “How are these people connected?” “Who is connected to whom else?” “When did those connections happen?” are examples. In chapter 9, we talked about strategies for answering the when question, and now we’ll work through how to answer the where. Unsurprisingly, to figure out where things happened, we need to use maps. So, the short answer is to put your graph on a map where the position of the nodes corresponds to the geographic location of those nodes, but it’s often not that simple. ...