Classifying Data

Data Classification is a crucial task to perform in the visualization process, as the type and structure of the data define the set of graphical mappings that can be performed on that data.

When we speak of different data types, we imply an underlying nxp table, where we store n data points (rows), each with p variables (columns).




First Name Last Name SS# Sex Age (years) Height (inches) Weight (pounds) Eye Color
Richard Resnick 111-22-3434 male 25 64 148 green
Meghan Lane 412-19-0000 female 22 61 112 blue
Matt Ward 589-03-1234 male certainly < 50 70 160 blue
Steve Segunchuk 123-45-6789 male 27 74 155 blue
Sudhir Kaushik n/a male 22 68.5 95 brown


We are primarily concerned with the type of each variable (column) in the table.



Classifying Data