Scatter plot in 1880: Encoding

Two measured variables as a cloud of points — the honest way to talk about correlation. Scatter plot encodes values as position of points on two quantitative axes. John Herschel plotted orbits; Galton’s 1880s regressions made the form famous. In reports, ads and assignments it fits correlation, outliers and clusters in two measures. Skip it when one axis is not quantitative, or time is the real story.

This page gathers anatomy, fit, craft, failure modes and work / ads / school recipes for Scatter plot. When the story is: correlation, outliers and clusters in two measures. Skip it in cases like: one axis is not quantitative, or time is the real story. John Herschel plotted orbits; Galton’s 1880s regressions made the form famous

position of points on two quantitative axes Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure. Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present. Excel or Google Sheets or PowerPoint; export SVG/PDF.