Scatter Plots

Scatter plots are similar to line graphs in that they use horizontal and vertical
axes to plot data points. However, they have a very specific purpose. Scatter
plots show how much one variable is affected by another. The relationship between
two variables is called their correlation.
Scatter plots usually consist of a large body of data. The closer the data points
come when plotted to making a straight line, the higher the correlation between
the two variables, or the stronger the relationship.
If the data points make a straight line going from the origin out to high x- and
y-values, then the variables are said to have a positive correlation. If the line
goes from a high-value on the y-axis down to a high-value on the x-axis, the
variables have a negative correlation.

A perfect positive correlation is given the value of 1. A perfect negative

correlation is given the value of -1. If there is absolutely no correlation
present the value given is 0. The closer the number is to 1 or -1, the stronger
the correlation, or the stronger the relationship between the variables. The
closer the number is to 0, the weaker the correlation. So something that seems to
kind of correlate in a positive direction might have a value of 0.67, whereas
something with an extremely weak negative correlation might have the value -.21.
An example of a situation where you might find a perfect positive correlation, as
we have in the graph on the left above, would be when you compare the total amount
of money spent on tickets at the movie theater with the number of people who go.
This means that every time that "x" number of people go, "y" amount of money is
spent on tickets without variation.
An example of a situation where you might find a perfect negative correlation, as
in the graph on the right above, would be if you were comparing the speed at which
a car is going to the amount of time it takes to reach a destination. As the speed
increases, the amount of time decreases.
On the other hand, a situation where you might find a strong but not perfect
positive correlation would be if you examined the number of hours students spent
studying for an exam versus the grade received. This won't be a perfect
correlation because two people could spend the same amount of time studying and
get different grades. But in general the rule will hold true that as the amount of
time studying increases so does the grade received.
Let's take a look at some examples. The graphs that were shown above each had a
perfect correlation, so their values were 1 and -1. The graphs below obviously do
not have perfect correlations. Which graph would have a correlation of 0? What
about 0.7? -0.7? 0.3? -0.3? Click on Answers when you think that you have them all
matched up.

 
EXAMPLE

A history teacher asked her students how many hours of sleep they had the night
before a test. The data below shows the number of hours the student slept and
their score on the exam. The graph is a scatter plot from the given data.

Student Number

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 Hours Slept

8
7
7
8
6
5
7
4
9
7 Test Score

83
86
74
88
76
63
90
60
89
81

a) Approximate a best fit line for the data in the graph above.
First sketch a line that closely fits the data. Second, locate two points on the
line. They don't have to be one of the original data points. We, will choose,
(4,60) and (7,80) for this example. Now find the equation of a line using the
previous learned techniques.

m = (80-60) / (7-4)
m = 20 / 3
m = 20/3

y = mx + b
y = 20/3x + b
60 = (20/3)4 + b
60 = 80/3 + b
100/3 = b

Thus a best fit equation is:

y = 20/3x + 100/3

Pictogram
A pictogram (also spelled pictogram) or pictograph is a symbol representing a
concept, object, activity, place or event by illustration. Pictography is a form
of writing in which ideas are transmitted through drawing. It is a basis of
cuneiform and, to some extent, hieroglyphic writing, which uses drawings also as
phonetic letters or determinative rhymes. Pictographs use a symbol or key to
represent numbers.
Early written symbols were based on pictograms (pictures which resemble what they
signify) and ideograms (symbols which represent ideas). They were used by the
ancient Chinese culture since around 5000 BC and began to develop into logographic
writing systems around 2000 BC. Pictograms are still in use as the main medium of
written communication in some non-literate cultures in Africa, The Americas, and
Oceania. Pictograms are often used as simple symbols by most contemporary
cultures.
Pictograms can often transcend languages in that they can communicate to speakers
of a number of tongues and language families equally effectively, even if the
languages are cultures are completely different. This is why that road signs and
similar pictographic material is often applied as a global standard expected to be
understood by nearly all.

Modern use
Pictograms remain in common use today, serving as signs or instructions. Because
of their graphical nature and fairly realistic style, they are widely used to
indicate public toilets, or places such as airports and train stations.
A standard set of pictograms was defined in the international standard ISO 7001:
Public Information Symbols. Another common set of pictograms are the laundry
symbols used on clothing tags and chemical hazard labels.
Pictographic writing as a modernist poetic technique is credited to Ezra Pound,
though French surrealists accurately credit the Pacific Northwest American Indians
of Alaska who introduced writing, via totem poles, to North America.[1]

Pictographs from the Great Gallery, Canyonlands National Park

Sample National Park Service pictographs

Pictograph from 1510 telling a story of coming of missionaries to Hispaniola

Water, rabbit, deer pictograms on a replica of an Aztec Stone of the Sun

British Rail passenger safety pictograms at the end of the platform at Meols
railway station

A pictogram warning against swimming because of crocodiles at the Australia Zoo.

"No Dogs!" sign in Spain. The dog illustration is a pictogram. The red circle and
bar is an ideogram representing the idea of "no" or "not allowed."
thumb|The top traffic sign warns people of horses and riders.