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Relationship

Bubble chart (XY positions and size)

Adds a third numeric variable to a scatterplot through symbol area.

  • Plot
  • Relationship
  • Magnitude

What it answers

How do three measures vary together?

Shape
XY points with variable areas
What it shows
XY association plus relative magnitude.

Example

The question

Which markets combine high growth, high margin and large size?

Markets by growth, margin and revenue (bubble size)

Markets by growth, margin and revenue (bubble size)Bubble area shows revenue. SE: growth 4%, margin 18%, revenue EUR 120 million; NO: growth 6%, margin 22%, revenue EUR 60 million; DK: growth 2%, margin 15%, revenue EUR 80 million; FI: growth 8%, margin 12%, revenue EUR 35 million; DE: growth 3%, margin 9%, revenue EUR 150 million; PL: growth 12%, margin 14%, revenue EUR 40 million; NL: growth 5%, margin 19%, revenue EUR 55 million. Norway and the Netherlands combine good growth and margin.Margin (%)510152025051015Revenue growth (%)SENODKFIDEPLNL
Markets by growth, margin and revenue (bubble size)Bubble area shows revenue. SE: growth 4%, margin 18%, revenue EUR 120 million; NO: growth 6%, margin 22%, revenue EUR 60 million; DK: growth 2%, margin 15%, revenue EUR 80 million; FI: growth 8%, margin 12%, revenue EUR 35 million; DE: growth 3%, margin 9%, revenue EUR 150 million; PL: growth 12%, margin 14%, revenue EUR 40 million; NL: growth 5%, margin 19%, revenue EUR 55 million. Norway and the Netherlands combine good growth and margin.Margin (%)510152025051015Revenue growth (%)SENODKFIDEPLNL
Bubble area shows revenue. SE: growth 4%, margin 18%, revenue EUR 120 million; NO: growth 6%, margin 22%, revenue EUR 60 million; DK: growth 2%, margin 15%, revenue EUR 80 million; FI: growth 8%, margin 12%, revenue EUR 35 million; DE: growth 3%, margin 9%, revenue EUR 150 million; PL: growth 12%, margin 14%, revenue EUR 40 million; NL: growth 5%, margin 19%, revenue EUR 55 million. Norway and the Netherlands combine good growth and margin.

Illustrative data. It belongs to no company.

When to use it

Use it when

Showing a third nonnegative measure on paired observations.

Avoid it when

When exact size comparison or overlapping bubbles is problematic.

How to read it

Read X and Y first, then circle area using its size legend.

Note

Scale area rather than radius to value.

The data you need

Layout
Long table
Fields
X: number; Y: number; Size: nonnegative number
One row is
One observation with paired numeric measurements. What is the grain?
Rules
Keep X,Y and Size paired by observation. Size must be nonnegative. Scale symbol area to value.
Optional
Optional ID,Group,Weight. Binning and smoothing settings belong to chart configuration.
Preparation
Align measurements by observation ID, select relevant variables and handle missingness. Scale or standardise only where the analytical method requires it.
Units
X, Y and Size may have different units; circle area, not radius, should represent the third quantity.
Example of the input layout: Long tableA long table: one row per observation, few columns. New data adds rows.XYSizeAABBC
A long table: one row per observation, few columns. New data adds rows.

Worked example

Points(2,10, size 15),(4,100, size 40). The second point is higher on both axes and represents the larger third value.

XYSize
21015
410040
65025
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