A scatter chart or a scatter plot is a type of graph that shows viewers the connection between any two variables. They have two axes: X and Y, which track relationships or data trends. For example, to create business reports or to manage website KPIs.
But scatter charts aren’t new. In fact, they’ve been around for centuries and have been used to visualize all sorts of statistical data. So let’s learn all about them!
How Do These “Scatter Chart Graphs” Work?
A scatter plot or scatter chart shouldn’t trouble you if you know how to plot X and Y coordinates. Simply plot the independent variable on the X-axis and the dependent variable on the Y-axis. The points at the intersection of the coordinates represent your data. But a trend line is typically drawn to highlight its direction and relationship. This helps users find a pattern.
Now, we can observe two main patterns while using scatter charts. They include the following:
Linear and Non-Linear
Data points that lie in a single file in any direction (straight or diagonal) on a scatter chart may indicate a linear or straight correlation. However, a curved relationship or non-linear correlation is also possible.
Weak and Strong
Some charts may have data points spaced closely, which indicates a strong correlation. On the other hand, others may have them more spread out with larger spaces between them. This indicates a weak correlation in data.
A Guide for Making and Using Scatter Charts
There are many things to understand before making and using scatter charts effectively. For instance, what is the best place to use them? And should users automate them? But let’s dive in and answer each question individually. So here’s what users need to know about making and using scatter charts:
The Uses of a Scatter Chart
We’ll start with the uses of a scatter chart. Of course, these graphs have several uses for statistical data. That’s why scientific studies use them all the time. But when and where can businesses take advantage of scatter plots? Fortunately, there are many examples. Look at the points below to understand how scatter charts are used in the corporate, financial, and marketing sectors.
Data Visualization
Like any other diagram, scatter plots or charts are often used to help users visualize data in a particular way. For instance, companies may use it to interpret numerical data sets. For example, we can explore if there is a relationship between factors such as height and weight in a group. These interpretations can help identify key areas of interest or be used to pinpoint problems with health.
Relationship Analysis
As mentioned above, scatter plots are useful in analyzing the relationship between two variables. For instance, the relationship between the price of a product and the quantity traded. You can see correlations or patterns by plotting these two variables on a scatter plot. For instance, you can plot the price of the product on the x-axis and the quantity traded on the y-axis. Each point on the scatter plot will represent a different price and the corresponding quantity sold. After plotting the data, you might observe that as the price increases, the quantity traded decreases.
Outlier Detection
Scatter plots are also useful in identifying outliers in a given dataset. These data points are significantly different from the rest of the information. This can help businesses and developers identify various points that may be errors or require further investigation. For instance, suppose a company is analyzing employee salary data to determine if there are any outliers (salaries that are significantly different from the rest of the salaries in the dataset.) They can plot the data on a scatter plot with years of experience on the x-axis and salary on the y-axis. After plotting the data, the company may observe that there are a few points that are significantly lower or higherthan the rest of the points on the scatter plot. These data points may be potential outliers and may require further investigation.
Regression Analysis
Scatter plots can help business users perform regression analysis. This involves finding the line of best fit to describe the relationship between two variables. Businesses can then use this information to make future predictions by drawing a regression line. For example, they can perform a regression analysis by plotting the data on a scatter chart with the x-axis displaying expenditure and sales revenue on the y-axis. Each point on the scatter plot will represent a different change over a period of time. Thus, allowing businesses to draw a line that indicates the overall regression trend.
Comparison of Data Sets
We can use scatter plots to compare two or more data sets. This is done by plotting each set on the same graph, where the overlapping information helps us identify the data sets’ similarities and differences. It is useful in making decisions, investigating problems, or developing hypotheses.
The Top 5 Tools Used to Create Scatter Charts
- Microsoft Excel: Excel is a widely used data analysis and visualization tool, including scatter charts. It's easy to use and offers a wide range of customization options.
- Google Sheets: Google Sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet tool allowing users to create scatter charts. It's free and accessible from any device with internet access.
- Tableau: Tableau is a powerful tool for data visualization that allows users to create interactive and dynamic scatter charts. It's often used for more complex data analysis and visualization.
- Python Matplotlib: Matplotlib is a popular data visualization library in Python that offers various plotting options, including scatter charts. It's free and highly customizable.
- R ggplot2: ggplot2 is a data visualization package in R that allows users to create high-quality scatter charts with minimal coding. It's popular among data scientists and analysts for its flexibility and ease of use.
The Difficulties with Scatter Plot Charts and Why Automation is the Answer
We know that scatter charts are powerful tools for visualizing and analyzing data. However, creating them can often be a problem for companies, businesses, and corporations. This is because they require manual labor with software like Microsoft Excel, and unfortunately, that can take a lot of time, especially if you have loads of information to process or need to create multiple charts for your meetings. In addition, making your own scatter charts also results in higher costs, more frequent errors, and inconsistency.
So, what can we do to avoid the inefficient process of creating scatter plot charts? Well, it’s simple! You automate them using simple tools like Image Charts. We’ll tell you more about them in the later sections of this blog. But first, here are some more key benefits of automating scatter charts:
Increases Efficiency
Automating the creation of scatter charts eliminates the need for manual data entry. This saves significant time and improves efficiency, especially if you handle larger data sets.
Improves Accuracy
Workers are not perfect. They spend long hours handling various business tasks throughout their day. So, they can easily make errors or mistakes when entering data or adjusting charts. However, this can be a major problem if your business or corporation needs to analyze information reliably. Therefore, it’s better to choose automation. Automating scatter charts helps corporate users, finance experts, and businesses reduce their margin for human errors.
Increases Consistency
When businesses, corporate analysts, and financial experts manage scatter charts, they need them to be clear and consistent. Unfortunately, manually created charts usually have differences based on the users generating them. So it can be confusing for viewers. That’s why automating scatter charts is a good idea. It can help users avoid this problem by introducing standardized processes.
Reduces Labor Costs
Automating the creation of scatter charts eliminates the need for manual data entry. Not only does this help businesses be more efficient, but it can also help reduce overall costs. This is because the process reduces the amount of time and labor businesses require to create scatter charts.
How Can You Automate Your Own Scatter Charts?
So, we’ve established the use cases of scatter charts. But we still have one question to answer. How can businesses and marketers automate the creation of their scatter charts or scatter plots? Thankfully, online options are available for both developers and business users. For example, Image Charts, a tool for automating and creating scatter charts. Here’s a quick breakdown of how it works:
How Image Charts Works
Image Charts is one of the best tools for independent marketers, businesses, developers, and corporate enterprises that want to automate their processes. It lets users quickly set up and manage chart generation, share information, and compare data. So, you can say bye-bye to the common problems mentioned in the sections above. Instead, users simply need to head to the Image Charts site and use their online editor. It allows for instant chart creation. Here’s how it works:
The Online Editor - Instant Scatter Charts
The first option is for people who need scatter charts immediately. It’s the online chart editor, a tool that anyone can use to create charts quickly. To use it, you can navigate to the Image Charts website and choose the online chart editor option. Then, select the type of chart you wish to make. For instance, in our case, it’s a scatter chart. However, you also have options for other types of diagrams too. Start by selecting one of them from the gallery and use it as a template.
Editing Your Chart
Next, navigate to the form parameters tab of the editor. This is where you’ll change the various fields on the chart. For example, you can change the data values, types, headings, and more. In addition, you can also edit the font color, add background images, and adjust the chart’s scale.
Adding Additional Data
Companies and businesses can quickly import their data using the enterprise parameters tab in the online editor. But this requires the creation of an Image Charts account, and it is not automated. Instead, it is a manual process that enables businesses to quickly create scatter charts. You can automate your chart generation in the lower sections.
Saving the Chart
The online chart editor also lets users easily share their data by converting charts and reports to Images. This lets anyone instantly send scatter charts via email and coordinate with their teams. So, simply click on the chart once it’s done and download it. Additionally, you can also change the URL parameters and edit the sharing options.
Using Image Charts to Automate Your Scatter Charts
The method above does not automate the process for businesses. Instead, it allows them to quickly generate a scatter chart. However, to speed up the process, they will need to rely on Image Charts integration with websites like Zapier and Make. Here’s a quick guide to help you use their integration processes.
Using Zapier and Make
Users of Image Charts can simply head to the Zapier and Make websites and select an information data source. This is the app from which you want to draw data. You can do this by using the Trigger Step with Zapier or by adding a Module with Make. For example, users can choose apps like Gmail or Typeform and input their data fields. After that, simply log in and grant access.
Next, you need to set up the action you wish to execute. This would be creating a scatter chart. So, select the Image Charts integration and choose the type of chart you need to generate. Once you have a chart, simply choose the data you want to include in the menus. Then, customize it by changing the fonts, adding more fields, and editing the title.
However, you also need to share this chart. So, set up another action using your preferred automation tool. Then, select your destination platform and authenticate it. Once you’ve attached all the data and completed the action steps, finalize the Zap or Scenario and make it live. It’s that simple.
Easy Guides
Users do not need to panic if they do not understand something while using Image Charts. This is because the service provides in-depth guides for everything, including scatter plots. You can find this documentation on their website here.
Automate Your Charts Today
In conclusion, scatter charts are valuable as they help us make sense of complex data sets. In addition, they can be used for data visualization, relationship analysis, outlier detection, and more. But despite their benefits, creating scatter charts is usually time-consuming and overwhelming. As a result, many businesses, developers, and marketers struggle with inefficiency and high business costs. Thankfully, our guide on automation provides readers with the solution they need to grow. So, try using tools like Image Charts, which streamlines the process.
Read more about scatter charts in our documentation here.
