Bubble chart

A bubble chart is a type of chart where each plotted entity is defined in terms of three distinct numeric parameters.[1] Bubble charts can facilitate the understanding of the social, economical, medical, and other scientific relationships.

Contents

Overview

The entities displayed on a bubble chart can be compared in terms of their size as well as their relative positions with respect to each numeric axis. Since both X and Y axis of the bubble chart are numeric scales, the position of plot is an indicator of two distinct numeric values. The area of the plot depends on the magnitude of a third numeric characteristic.[1] One concern when rendering data with a bubble chart is that the area of a circle is proportional to the square of the radius. So if you scale the radius with your third data point, you will disproportionally emphasize the third factor. To get a properly weighted scale, one should take the square root of the magnitude of this third metric. However, many bubble charts are rendered without this correction.

A bubble chart can be considered a "variation of a scatter plot, in which the data points are replaced with bubbles. This type of chart can be used instead of a Scatter chart if your data has three data series, each of which contains a set of values".[2]

Bubble charts, according to Berman (2007), can "be used in project management to compare the risk and reward among projects. In a chart each project can be respresented by a bubble,the axis can represent the net present value and probability of success and the size of the bubble can represent the overall cost of the project".[3]

In architecture a first architectural sketch of the lay out constructed with bubbles is also named a "bubble chart".[4]

In software engineering a bubble chart is defined as a data flow, a data structure or other diagram in which entires are depicted with circles or bubbles and relationships are represented by links drawn between the circles.

Example

Bubble chart of the Chicago Deposit market 2003[5] in compare to other cities, which was highly fragmented and is not dominated by a small group of financial institutions, as is the case in many other markets.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Second base with charts: Understanding the Bubble chart (2009). FusionCharts Blog
  2. ^ Creating a Bubble chart Microsoft Office Online. Accessed 25 Feb 2009.
  3. ^ Jeff Berman (2007). Maximizing project value: defining, managing, and measuring for optimal return. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2007. ISBN 0814473822. p.63-64..
  4. ^ Bryan Lawson (2004). What Designers Know. Elsevier, 2004. ISBN 0750664487. p.44.
  5. ^ Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (2003). http://www.fdic.gov/bank/analytical/regional/ro20034q/na/t4q2003.pdf FDIC Outlook]. Winter 2003.

External links