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Bubble map

Current rating 3.5/5 Impact: 3Accuracy: 44 votes
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Bubble map
Location of high-tech companies and size of workforce.
Visual types
Level of expertise
Source:
Oxfordshire Sustainable Community Strategy: page 4 (Area Profile)
http://portal.oxfordshire.gov.uk/content/public/ODO/login/SCS%20Briefing%20papers/3_Economy_3Sept07.pdf
Interactive features
None
Benefits & pitfalls to avoid
  • Using area or volume to represent data can distort data values, and exaggerate differences between values. For example, if the radius of the circle is used to represent data values, the area of the circle will quadruple if the data values double. There is also an issue of 'perceptual scaling' - the tendency of people to underestimate areas.
Create your own
  • Bubble charts can be created in a range of standard data applications such as Excel.
  • Bubble maps can be created in a range of desktop GIS applications such as MapInfo and ArcGIS.