Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 4 June 1982:
Vol. 216. no. 4550, pp. 1138 - 1141
DOI: 10.1126/science.216.4550.1138
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Variables on Scatterplots Look More Highly Correlated When the Scales Are Increased

WILLIAM S. CLEVELAND 1, PERSI DIACONIS 2, and ROBERT MCGILL 3

1 Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974
2 Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
3 Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill

Judged association between two variables represented on scatterplots increased when the scales on the horizontal and vertical axes were simultaneously increased so that the size of the point cloud within the frame of the plot decreased. Judged association was very different from the correlation coefficient, r, which is the most widely used measure of association.

Submitted on December 11, 1981
Revised on March 15, 1982


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Variation in scatterplot displays.
M. E. Doherty and R. B. Anderson (2009)
Behav Res Methods 41, 55-60
   Abstract »    PDF »
Graphs for Research in Counseling Psychology.
L. Wilkinson (1999)
The Counseling Psychologist 27, 384-407
   Abstract »    PDF »
Review papers : Graphical displays.
L. Wilkinson (1992)
Statistical Methods in Medical Research 1, 3-25
   Abstract »    PDF »
The Perception of Statistical Graphs.
S. LEWANDOWSKY and I. SPENCE (1989)
Sociological Methods Research 18, 200-242
   Abstract »
Book Reviews: Exploring Data Tables, Trends, and Shapes David C. Hoaglin, Frederick Mosteller, and John W. Tukey (Eds.) New York: Wiley, 1985. xxii + 527 pp.
R. W. Lissitz (1988)
Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics 13, 183-187
   PDF »
Correlations Perceived and Measured.
S. EHRENSON (1982)
Science 218, 918-919
   PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)