Talk:Small multiple

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The purpose of the example is dubious. Is it intended to explain the concept of small multiples, or to be a lesson in how to poorly employ the concept? It is at least as effective (and likely more so) at the latter as it is the former. Mrweatherbee (talk) 20:42, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Please explain. --Knulclunk (talk) 21:23, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

The contributor states that the chart purpose is to "emphasize the relative change over time compared to the range," but the purpose of small multiples, namely to exploit repetition, is frustrated by the varying scales. Since the scales all differ, both in starting values and min-max range, a viewer must discretely determine the range of each individual plot, which makes it impossible to visually make a relative comparison among the various plots. The contributor's proposal to standardize the scales would help. In Tufte's words, there is insufficient "constancy of design." Mrweatherbee (talk) 18:00, 8 April 2008 (UTC)