Changing the axis range

In Chapter 12, you create a differenced area graph (refer to Figure 12-17). As you can see in the graph, there is empty space between the bottom of the graph and where the information begins along the y-axis. Here we explain how to edit the y-axis so that the range of the axis begins at 50. (Refer to Chapter 12 if you need to re-create the graph.)

The following steps show you how to edit Figure 12-17:

1. In the SPSS Statistics Viewer window, navigate to the differenced area graph and double-click the chart.

   The Chart Editor window appears (see Figure 18-1).

2. Click the Y button at the top of the menu bar.

   The Properties dialog box appears.

3. Click the Scale tab (see Figure 18-2).
4. In the Range section, click the Auto check box next to Minimum, and change the number in the Custom box to 50.

5. Click Apply.

   The chart in Figure 18-3 appears.

   As you can see, the y-axis in this new figure is changed to eliminate unnecessary space in the graph.

Editing graphs like this allows you to create clearer graphs and improve how the information is visualized.

Scaling the axis range

No plot is simpler to produce than the dot plot. It has only one dimension. Although SPSS does an excellent job of grouping the information, it doesn’t create a visually scaled chart like the one shown in Figure 12-2. Without scaling, your chart may fail to convey your information with the impact that you want. For example, notice that when you build the dot plot in Chapter 12, the information is scrunched, with too much white space at the top of the graph.

To be able to make this chart more readable, we’ll change how SPSS scales the graph. The following steps guide you through the process of editing the dot plot from Chapter 12. (Refer to Chapter 12 if you need to re-create the graph.)

1. In the SPSS Statistics Viewer window, navigate to the dot plot and double-click the chart.

   The Chart Editor window appears.

2. Double-click the graph.

   The Properties dialog box appears.

3. Click the Chart Size tab (see Figure 18-4).
4. Look for Maintain Aspect Ratio under the Size in Points section.
5. Uncheck the Maintain Aspect Ratio button and change the Height to 150.

6. Click Apply.

   The chart shown in Figure 18-5 appears.

Editing chart lines

In Chapter 12, we explain how to make a chart with multiple lines (refer to Figure 12-9). In order to help the viewer distinguish the various lines, it’s important to modify the way they appear. The following steps can be used to edit the chart for clarity. (Refer to Chapter 12 if you need to re-create the chart.)

1. In the SPSS Statistics Viewer window, navigate to the multiple line chart and double-click the chart.

   The Chart Editor window appears.

2. Triple-click one of the lines in the graph.

   Make sure that only one line is selected. The Properties dialog box appears.

3. Click the Lines tab.
4. In the Lines section, from the Style drop-down list (see Figure 18-6), choose a new line style.

5. Click Apply.

   The style you chose is applied to the line.

6. Repeat the process for the other lines.

   The line chart in Figure 18-7 appears.

Editing data points

Colored scatterplots such as the one in Figure 12-12 are a great way to visualize information. In situations where color scatterplots are not an option (for example, you don’t have a color printer), you need to change the style of the data points so the viewer can distinguish between the datasets.

The following steps can be used to edit the chart and allow a stronger delineation between data sets in a chart. (Refer to Chapter 12 if you need to re-create the scatterplot.)

1. In the SPSS Statistics Viewer window, navigate to the scatterplot and double-click the chart.

   The Chart Editor window appears.

2. Double-click one of the circles in the graph.

   Make sure that only one set of data is selected.

   The Properties dialog box appears.

3. Click the Marker tab.
4. In the Marker section, from the Type drop-down list, choose a new marker type (see Figure 18-8).

5. Click Apply.

   The style you selected is applied to the graph.

6. Repeat the process for the other datasets.

   The chart shown in Figure 18-9 appears.