As it has been said a picture is worth a thousand words and so it is with graphics too. 
A well constructed graph can summarize information collected from tens to hundreds or even thousands of data points. But not every graph has the same power to convey complex information clearly. [Read more…] about Member Training: An Introduction into the Grammar of Graphics
communicate results
Three Designs that Look Like Repeated Measures, But Aren’t
Repeated measures is one of those terms in statistics that sounds like it could apply to many design situations. In fact, it describes only one.
A repeated measures design is one where each subject is measured repeatedly over time, space, or condition on the dependent variable.
These repeated measurements on the same subject are not independent of each other. They’re clustered. They are more correlated to each other than they are to responses from other subjects. Even if both subjects are in the same condition. [Read more…] about Three Designs that Look Like Repeated Measures, But Aren’t
Member Training: Practical Suggestions for Improving Your Scatterplots
The scatterplot is a simple display of the relationship between two, or sometimes three, variables. You have a wide range of options for displaying a scatterplot. In particular, you can control the location, size, shape, and color of the points in your scatterplot.
[Read more…] about Member Training: Practical Suggestions for Improving Your Scatterplots
The Right Analysis or the Best Analysis? What to Do When You Can’t Run the Ideal Analysis
One activity in data analysis that can seem impossible is the quest to find the right analysis. I applaud the conscientiousness and integrity that underlies this quest.
The problem: in many data situations there isn’t one right analysis.
Member Training: How to Avoid Common Graphical Mistakes
Good graphs are extremely powerful tools for communicating quantitative information clearly and accurately.
Unfortunately, many of the graphs we see today confuse, mislead, or deceive the reader.
These poor graphs result from two key limitations. One is a graph designer who isn’t familiar with the principles of effective graphs. The other is software with a poor choice of default settings.
[Read more…] about Member Training: How to Avoid Common Graphical Mistakes
Member Training: Writing Up Statistical Results: Basic Concepts and Best Practices
Many of us love performing statistical analyses but hate writing them up in the Results section of the manuscript. We struggle with big-picture issues (What should I include? In what order?) as well as minutia (Do tables have to be double-spaced?). [Read more…] about Member Training: Writing Up Statistical Results: Basic Concepts and Best Practices