Categorized Ternary Graphs

Graphical Analytic Techniques

Select 3D Ternary Plots from the Graphs - Categorized Graphs submenu to display the Categorized Ternary Graphs dialog. Here you can create a series of ternary graphs one for each category of cases identified by the X or X and Y category variables (or identified by the Multiple Subsets option button on the Advanced tab). The Categorized Ternary Graphs dialog contains five tabs: Quick, Advanced, Appearance, Options 1, and Options 2.

A categorized ternary plot can be used to examine relations between three or more dimensions where three of those dimensions represent components of a mixture (i.e., the relations between them is constrained such that the values of the three variables add up to the same constant for each case) for each level of a grouping variable. One typical application of this graph is when the measured response(s) from an experiment depends on the relative proportions of three components (e.g., three different chemicals) which are varied in order to determine an optimal combination of those components (e.g., in mixture designs). In a categorized ternary plot, one component graph is produced for each level of the grouping variable (or user-defined subset of data) and all the component graphs are arranged in one display to allow for comparisons between the subsets of data (categories).

In ternary plots, the triangular coordinate systems are used to plot four (or more) variables (the components X, Y, and Z, and the responses V1, V2, etc.) in two dimensions (ternary scatterplots or contours) or three dimensions (ternary surface plots). In order to produce ternary graphs, the relative proportions of each component within each case are constrained to add up to the same value (e.g., 1). By default, when the graph is produced, the proportions are rescaled so that they add to 1 in each case. Other options to manage cases with invalid sums are given below (see Data range on the Advanced tab).

Graph Gallery. Click the Graph Gallery button to display the STATISTICA Graphs Gallery dialog. Use the Graphs Gallery to easily switch among different types of graphs.

Select Cases. Click the Select Cases button to display the Analysis/Graph Case Selection Conditions dialog, which is used to create conditions for which cases will be included (or excluded) in the current analysis. More information is available in the case selection conditions overview, syntax summary, and dialog description.

Weight. Click the Weight button to display the Analysis/Graph Case Weights dialog, which is used to adjust the contribution of individual cases to the outcome of the current analysis by "weighting" those cases in proportion to the values of a selected variable.

Options. Click the Options button to display the following menu commands:

Output. Select Output to display the Analysis/Graph Output Manager dialog, which is used to customize the current graph output management of STATISTICA.

Display. Select Display to display the Analysis/Graph Display Options dialog, which is used to customize the current graph display of STATISTICA.

Create Macro. Select Create Macro to display the New Macro dialog. When making graphs in STATISTICA, all options and output choices are automatically recorded; when you click Create Macro, the complete recording of all your actions will be translated into a STATISTICA Visual Basic program that can be run to recreate the analysis. See Macro (STATISTICA Visual Basic) Overview for further details.

Close Analysis. Select Close Analysis to close all dialogs associated with the graph. Note that results spreadsheets/graphs will not be closed, only graph dialogs will close.

Updating. Click the Updating button to display the following menu commands:

Auto. Select Auto to disconnect the graph from the graph creation dialog and connect the graph directly to the spreadsheet. Any changes in the spreadsheet data (including selection condition changes) will be immediately reflected in the graph.

Manual. Select Manual to disconnect the graph from the graph creation dialog and connect the graph directly to the spreadsheet. Any changes in the spreadsheet data will be reflected in the graph only after a manual update is initiated.

Locked. Select Locked to disconnect the graph from the graph creation dialog and connect the graph directly to the spreadsheet. The graph is linked to the spreadsheet, but will not be updated when the spreadsheet data changes.  

Analysis. Select Analysis to connect the graph to the graph creation dialog and disconnect the graph from the spreadsheet. Changes to analysis options (such as fit type) will be applied to all graphs created by the analysis.

Analysis/Updating. Select Analysis/Updating to connect the graph to the graph creation dialog and disconnect the graph from the spreadsheet. The analysis (while open) will update the graph when the spreadsheet data is changed. Once the analysis is closed, the graph will no longer update when the spreadsheet data is changed.

None. Select None to disconnect the graph from both the spreadsheet and graph creation dialog.

OK. Click the OK button to produce the selected graph.

Cancel. Click the Cancel button to close this dialog without creating a graph.