3.17 ToDG: Data density and small multiples (3)

• Tufte (2001, 2:175): "Well-designed small multiples are
  • inevitably comparative
  • deftly multivariate
  • shrunken, high-density graphics
  • usually based on a large data matrix
  • drawn almost entirely with data-ink
  • efficient in interpretation
  • often narrative in content, showing shifts in the relationship between variables as the index variable changes (thereby revealing interaction or multiplicative effects )."
• Small multiples reflect much of the theory of data graphics:
  • For non-data-ink, less is more.
  • For data-ink, less is a bore. (Tufte 2001, 2:175)

References

Tufte, Edward R. 2001. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. Vol. 2. Graphics press Cheshire, CT.