References, Acknowledgments, Standards

This Electronic Manual contains topics devoted to specific categories of graphs, includes conceptual overviews and examples of typical applications, and discusses distinctive functional properties of the respective types of graphs. More comprehensive general introductions to the science (and art) of visualization of data can be found in numerous sources on the subject. Some of the recommended sources that address a broad range of issues in statistical graphing are Buja and Tukey (1991), Chambers, Cleveland, Kleiner, and Tukey (1983), Cleveland (1984, 1985), Kolata (1984), Tufte (1983, 1990), Tukey (1977), and Tukey and Tukey (1981). Representative collections of articles on specific issues, covering a diverse selection of areas of visualization of statistical data, can be found in the proceedings of the Annual Meetings of the Section on Statistical Graphics of the American Statistical Association (published by the American Statistical Association).

The default settings of most statistical graphs offered in STATISTICA follow the established conventions that are either explicitly described in the literature on statistical and technical graphing, or they represent standards that are commonly accepted by major scientific journals (e.g., SCIENCE). However, practically all default settings of STATISTICA can be customized to meet specific requirements of unusual applications. STATISTICA's graphics facilities were designed to play the role of flexible "tools," capable of producing effects that go far beyond established patterns and templates. Moreover, these tools can be customized, new tools can be designed, and both can be added to toolbars or menus for repeated use.

In addition to a comprehensive selection of standard statistical and technical graphs, STATISTICA includes numerous unique types of graphs and graph customization facilities. While StatSoft statisticians designed most of them, it is important to say that our users have played an important role in their creation. In fact, the final selection of graphics options included in STATISTICA is the result of input from thousands of users who provided their comments and "want lists" in response to StatSoft's inquiries. Many unique facilities of STATISTICA Graphs (e.g., the multiple subset selection facility, on-line categorization options, and others) were introduced in response to users' ideas and requests. We at StatSoft are very grateful for the input from our users.