Solved – How to visualize both total counts of categories and proportions of subcategories in a plot

Suppose I have samples drawn from categories A, B, C. Within those categories, I have subcategories d,e,f which are found in all 3 categories. I want to visualize how many samples I have form categories A, B, C and the proportional composition of subcategories d,e,f within each category.

One way to do this is a bar plot (I'm using ggplot2, not that it matters too much) with bars for A, B, C, heights proportional to their total number of samples. Within each bar I partition it by fill color based on the composition of d,e,f within the category. The problem with this is that since A, B, and C will be different heights, it's almost impossible to visually compare the proportions – e.g. proportion of d in A with the proportion of d in B.

To see the proportions, I can renormalize the heights to 100% instead of the sample count so that bars for A, B, and C are now equal height. However, now I can't visualize the counts in A, B, and C.

Is there an elegant way to visualize both of these piece of information simultaneously?

This example of embedded/layered bar plots may represent one alternative. The three main categories are represented by individual bars, then embedded within are subcategory bars (created in ggplot2).

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Solved – How to visualize both total counts of categories and proportions of subcategories in a plot

Suppose I have samples drawn from categories A, B, C. Within those categories, I have subcategories d,e,f which are found in all 3 categories. I want to visualize how many samples I have form categories A, B, C and the proportional composition of subcategories d,e,f within each category.

One way to do this is a bar plot (I'm using ggplot2, not that it matters too much) with bars for A, B, C, heights proportional to their total number of samples. Within each bar I partition it by fill color based on the composition of d,e,f within the category. The problem with this is that since A, B, and C will be different heights, it's almost impossible to visually compare the proportions – e.g. proportion of d in A with the proportion of d in B.

To see the proportions, I can renormalize the heights to 100% instead of the sample count so that bars for A, B, and C are now equal height. However, now I can't visualize the counts in A, B, and C.

Is there an elegant way to visualize both of these piece of information simultaneously?

Best Answer

This example of embedded/layered bar plots may represent one alternative. The three main categories are represented by individual bars, then embedded within are subcategory bars (created in ggplot2).

Blog Link (Learning R)

Similar Posts:

Rate this post

Leave a Comment