How to make a scatter plot

Briefly

Make a graph, and then drag one continuous attribute to each axis.

See a video on how to make a graph, including a scatter plot.

 A scatter plot shows a relationship between two continuous attributes (that is, they have numbers for values).

1. Go to the case table or the collection inspector and find the names of the attributes.

2. Drag one attribute name to one axis of the graph you want to make.

3. Drag the other attribute name to the other axis.

Other Scatter plot Issues

If you get the wrong kind of graph (e.g., a pair of dot plots) it may be that one of your attributes is not continuous. You can also get a crummy-looking scatter plot if one of your attributes doesn't have many values. Scatter plots really only work when you're comparing two attributes, each of which has many different numeric values.

The trick is deciding which label to put where. Sometimes you're just looking for a relationship, and then it doesn't matter much.

Other times, you're trying to predict one attribute from the other. In that case, we traditionally put the predictor on the horizontal (x) axis and the one being predicted on the vertical (y) axis. For example, suppose you collect a bunch of data about kids' heights at various ages. You're trying to see which kids are tall or short for their ages. "For their ages" is the telltale phrase: you're trying to predict height from age. So put height on the vertical axis and age on the horizontal.

On the other hand, if you're trying to guess how old a kid is, based on his or her height, set up the graph the other way.

Plotting lines

Plotting other functions

Adjusting the axes

Showing groups

Displaying a third continuous attribute with color