Tinkerplots VCarryn Bellomo

Carryn.Bellomo@unlv.edu

What Tinkerplots Does Helps you see trends and patterns in data. Helps you make graphs and reports to

present findings. There are sample data sets, or you can

enter your own data (collected in class or on the internet).

Presentation Overview Just in Case – an Introduction Determining the Value of a House Changing Means and Medians Connecting Line and Scatter Plots

OverviewCat Dataset

Overview – Cat DatasetOpen Tinkerplots with “Cats,” located under

“Science and Nature” At the top left you have data cards, 1 card

for each data point. Attributes are assigned to each data point,

they can be continuous or discrete. By default, data points are randomly

arranged on the page.

Overview – Button Explanations Stack arranges them in a line. Order arranges them numerically or by

category. Label puts their name next to the icon. The “Mix up button” randomly places the

icons on the screen.

Overview – Arranging Data We want to arrange the cats by weight. Let’s order the cats by weight, and put their

names by their icon: Click on the weight attribute Click on the order button, then click on the stack

button Then click on the name attribute, and then the

label key Who is the heaviest, the lightest?

Overview – Grouping Data Let’s make a bar graph of the cats with their

body length: Select the body length attribute Pull an icon right to separate the data, and

continue to pull on them until they are fully separated

Then stack them, and change the icon if you like to “fused rectangular”

What do you notice about the data?

Overview – Further Analyzing There seem to be two clusters of cats

regarding body length. Perhaps this is related to age or gender? Click on the attribute for age. Does there seem

to be a relationship? Click on the attribute for gender. Does there

seem to be a relationship?

How can you tell?

Overview – Further Analyzing Separate the males and females by

selecting the gender attribute and dragging one of the icons up.

Click on the button to see the mean, and the button for a reference line.

What can you conclude?

Overview – Further Analyzing Perhaps body length is related to weight?

Click on the body length attribute, and pull right to fully separate the data

Click on the weight attribute, and pull up to fully separate the data

What do you think about the relationship between body weight and length?

House Value

House ValueThere are various websites that when given an

address will provide you with comparables www.zillow.com Go to this site and see for yourself how it works The data is summarized in HouseValues.tp Download it: www.unlv.edu/faculty/bellomo

“Grants” --> “7th Grade Connections” under “Prof Devt Seminars”

[Keep this site open for future reference]

House ValueOpen Tinkerplots At the top left you have data cards, 1 card

for each data point. Attributes are assigned to each data point,

they can be continuous or discrete. Drag a plot onto the page. By default, data points are randomly

arranged on the page.

House Value

Graph the square footage with sale price: Click on the attribute for Sqft and drag it to

the horizontal axis Click on the attribute for SalePrice and drag

it to the vertical axis Drag any one data point to separate the

data.

House ValueQuestions: Identify the house whose value we are

trying to determine Are there any homes with the same square

footage? What did they sell for, and when?(use the reference line, if necessary)

Based on this, what would you estimate this house value to be?

House ValueGroup the data based on square footage: Click on a data point and drag it right to

create about 5 categories Click on the and buttons to see the

mean and median.

Based on this, what would you estimate thishouse value to be?

House ValueDetermine the price per square footage: Drag out the table Create a new attribute by double clicking on

“<new>” and typing “perSqft” Right click on the title, and select “edit

formula” Type “SalePrice”, divided by (“/”) and “Sqft” The values will be filled in automatically

House ValueQuestions: Identify the houses who sold for the most and

least per square footage Drag the “perSqft” attribute to the vertical, and stack

Determine the mean/median price per square foot Click on the median/mean buttons, and display value

Based on this, now what would you estimate this

house value to be?

House Value – Using ExcelUse Excels Trendline to estimate the value: Download the file HouseValues.xls from the

website www.unlv.edu/faculty/bellomo Create a chart and add a trendline (use the

handout for instructions)

Based on this, now what would you estimate this

house value to be?

Changing Means and Medians

Changing Means and Medians

Questions: What is the difference between a mean

and a median? What effect does an outlier have on each?

Changing Means and Medians Download the file “Scooters.tp” from the

website www.unlv.edu/faculty/bellomo Drag the age attribute to the horizontal Click on the mean and median buttons,

and “show numeric value”

Changing Means and MediansQuestions: What is the mean and median age for this data

set? Are there any outliers for this data set? How much (as a percentage) do the mean and

median change if the outlier is removed?[Click on the data point, go to the Plot menu and choose Hide Selected Cases].

Changing Means and Medians Add back the data value you removed

[Go to the Plot menu and choose Show Hidden Cases].

Mix up the data Make a new line plot of Age Change the scale to go from the youngest to

oldest [Double-click the box at the left end of the scale. Enter age for Axis starts at and click OK. Repeat on right].

Changing Means and MediansQuestions: What is the lowest mean and median

found by changing the oldest data point? What is the highest mean and median

found by changing the oldest data point? What effect will adding a case have

instead of changing the age of a given case?

Changing Means and Medians We can also analyze this in Excel. Open the file “Scooters.xls” You will see yellow boxes with means and

medians. Click on the cells to see the formulas.

Again play around with the values to see the changes in the mean/median.

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots

Questions: What is the relationship between a line

plot and a scatter plot? Where do data points appear on each of

these plot types?

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots Open the file “HallofFame.tp” Make a line plot of “points_per_game”. Take any one data point and determine

how “points_per_game” is calculated from “points_total” and “game_total”.

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots Use the dividers and percentages to

determine the middle 50% of the data. Click on the “Div” button Click on “%” button to display percentages Move the lines left and right to estimate a 25-50-

25 split.

What is the range of values of points pergame for these players?

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots Drag out a new plot, and graph “games_total” on

the horizontal and “points_total” on the vertical. Use the drawing tool to sketch a line so half

the points fall below and half above. Select points on the line plot at each interval to

determine where they are on the scatter plot. Use the mouse to click and drag a selected area

containing those points When you let go, these points will be highlighted

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots

Question: Where do data points appear on each of

these plot types?

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots We will repeat this exercise for free throws Re-open the file “HallofFame.tp” Make a line plot of “free_throw_percent”. Take any one data point and determine

how “free_throw_percent” is calculated from “free_throw_attempts” and “free_throws_made”.

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots Use the dividers and percentages to

determine the middle 50% of the data. Click on the “Div” button Click on “%” button to display percentages Move the lines left and right to estimate a 25-50-

25 split.

What is the range of values of free throwpercent for these players?

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots Drag out a new plot, and graph

“free_throw_attempts” on the horizontal and “free_throws_made” on the vertical.

Use the drawing tool to sketch a line so half the points fall below and half above.

Select points on the line plot at each interval to determine where they are on the scatter plot. Use the mouse to click and drag a selected area

containing those points When you let go, these points will be highlighted

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots Let’s use Excel to make our line and use it

to predict values. Open the table in Tinkerplots Highlight the dataset by clicking “Edit” on the

tools menu and “Select All” Open Excel and click “Paste” Format the data however you wish If you have trouble copying, this file is on the web

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots Follow the previous instructions to make a

scatterplot of “free_throw_attempts” vs. “free_throws_made”

Add a trendline to determine the equation for the best fit line.

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots

Questions: What is the slope and intercept of the best

fit line? Use the slope and intercept to predict the

free throws made for any one data point. What does the slope indicate, in words? The intercept?

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots

Questions: Is there a relationship between a players

free_throw_percentage and field_goal_percentage?

How do you investigate this? Are there any other attributes that relate to

each other? Investigate.

More Examples

Connecting Lines and Scatter Plots

Questions: What would you estimate your home to be

worth? To take a look at some interesting

datasets on the web, go to

http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/DASL/

Conclusion This presentation and handouts can be

found at:

http://www.unlv.edu/faculty/bellomo