[R] ggplot2/aesthetic plotting advice

[ONKELINX, Thierry]

Dear Ben,

With a lot of overlapping errorbar things will always look cluttered.
Below you will find a few suggestions.

HTH,

Thierry


library(ggplot2)

nx <- 3
ngrp <- 5
nper <- 4
x <- rep(1:nx,ngrp*nper)
y <- runif(nx*ngrp*nper)
g <- factor(rep(1:ngrp,each=nx*nper))

dat <- data.frame(Year = factor(x), Whatever = y, Group = g)
ds <- ddply(dat, c("Year", "Group"), function(x){c(SD = sd(x$Whatever),
Mean = mean(x$Whatever))})
ds$Max <- ds$Mean + ds$SD
ds$Min <- ds$Mean - ds$SD

ggplot(ds, aes(x = Year, y = Mean, min = Min, max = Max, colour =
Group)) + geom_pointrange(position = position_dodge(width = .4))
ggplot(ds, aes(x = as.numeric(Year), y = Mean, min = Min, max = Max,
colour = Group)) + geom_line() + geom_point() + geom_errorbar()
ggplot(ds, aes(x = as.numeric(Year), y = Mean, min = Min, max = Max,
colour = Group)) + geom_line() + geom_point()
ggplot(ds, aes(x = as.numeric(Year), y = Mean, min = Min, max = Max)) +
geom_line() + geom_point() + geom_errorbar() + facet_wrap(~Group)
ggplot(ds, aes(x = as.numeric(Year), y = Mean, min = Min, max = Max,
colour = Group, fill = Group)) + geom_ribbon(alpha = .2, aes(colour =
NULL)) + geom_line(size = 3)
ggplot(ds, aes(x = as.numeric(Year), y = Mean, min = Min, max = Max,
colour = Group, fill = Group)) + geom_ribbon(alpha = .2, aes(colour =
NULL)) + geom_line(size = 3) + facet_wrap(~Group)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
ir. Thierry Onkelinx
Instituut voor natuur- en bosonderzoek / Research Institute for Nature
and Forest
Cel biometrie, methodologie en kwaliteitszorg / Section biometrics,
methodology and quality assurance
Gaverstraat 4
9500 Geraardsbergen
Belgium 
tel. + 32 54/436 185
Thierry.Onkelinx at inbo.be 
www.inbo.be 

To call in the statistician after the experiment is done may be no more
than asking him to perform a post-mortem examination: he may be able to
say what the experiment died of.
~ Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher

The plural of anecdote is not data.
~ Roger Brinner

The combination of some data and an aching desire for an answer does not
ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of
data.
~ John Tukey

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org]
Namens Ben Bolker
Verzonden: donderdag 23 april 2009 6:20
Aan: r-help at r-project.org
Onderwerp: [R] ggplot2/aesthetic plotting advice


  Consider the following situation:

  we have quantified algal concentrations for
a variety of species using many samples at each
of three years.  It seems to make sense to generate
a line plot (matplot-like), with each species plotted
as a separate line, with the points connected to emphasize
the temporal pattern.

  The problem: lots of overlapping error bars.

  The question: from both a procedural and an aesthetic
point of view, what do people recommend?  Below is an
example that hacks (not quite "jitters", because it's
systematic) the x locations a bit, but I find it a bit
ugly.  (I was also hoping that ggplot had some magic
to do this automatically, but position_dodge doesn't
seem to work in this context ...)

  Ben Bolker

library(ggplot2)

nx <- 3
ngrp <- 5
nper <- 4
x <- rep(1:nx,ngrp*nper)
y <- runif(nx*ngrp*nper)
g <- factor(rep(1:ngrp,each=nx*nper))

dat <- data.frame(x,y,g)

se <- with(dat,tapply(y,list(g,x),sd)/table(g,x))
means <- with(dat,tapply(y,list(g,x),mean))
limits <- aes(ymax=means+se,ymin=means-se)
gg <- factor(rep(1:ngrp,nx))
xx <- rep(1:nx,each=ngrp)
p <- ggplot(dat,aes(y=c(means),x=xx,
                    group=gg,colour=gg))
p + geom_pointrange(aes(ymin=c(means-se),ymax=c(means+se)))
xdodge <- xx + rep(seq(-0.1,0.1,length=ngrp),nx)
p + geom_line() + geom_pointrange(aes(x=xdodge,
                                      ymin=c(means-se),
                                      ymax=c(means+se))) +
  scale_x_continuous(name="Year",breaks=1:3) +
  scale_y_continuous(name="Whatever")


-- 
Ben Bolker
Associate professor, Biology Dep't, Univ. of Florida
bolker at ufl.edu / www.zoology.ufl.edu/bolker
GPG key: www.zoology.ufl.edu/bolker/benbolker-publickey.asc

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