> No you shouldn’t stop using box plots. You should use them for when they are appropriate
Yes, the author is aware of that. They even stated so:
> Despite making more visual sense than box plots, I still wouldn’t recommend these design concepts or box plots in most situations because…
Seems a few people missed the "in most situations" part. He's saying he stopped using them for whatever reasons because it isn't working for his audience. So as the title suggests, maybe we should all take a look at our use of box plots and see if there are better alternatives.
Also remember who he's talking about when it comes to reading box plots. He's not talking about people who understand box plots. He's talking about others that don't know or understand box plots, which seems to be thousands of people he's had to explain it to, according to him.
To clarify, I (article author) am not aware of any scenarios in which a box plot would be a better choice than simpler chart types, even for very sophisticated audiences. From the article:
"Other reviewers suggested that the conclusion [of this article] should be that box plots are a useful chart type, but only for statistically savvy audiences. Again, I’m going a step further, suggesting that even those audiences would be better served by other chart types in virtually all situations."
The author doesn't use the correct terminology and does not understand box plots themselves so they are in no position to explain them to anyone. They explain in terms of absolutes with no rational or scientific explanation and entirely miss the point of the methodology and tools. That is a not a good position to start or a good person to take advice from.
Not only that, the cases presented are likely better dealt with via inference tests. But the author's knowledge doesn't extend that far. And even going as far left, the posed question isn't even defined in the article. So how was a suitable methodology chosen? Well it wasn't - lets just throw this pretty picture up and whine about it.
The author is way out of their depth and should retract the article and take a formal, accredited statistics course.
> The author is way out of their depth and should retract the article and take a formal, accredited statistics course.
Maybe you should learn about the author before you make such assumptions. I find it hilarious you think he should take statistics courses when he teaches data visualization workshops to places like NASA, IRS, and the UN.
Just because you’re high profile in the data viz industry doesn’t mean you should be commenting on statistics especially with such a clear misunderstanding going on.
Some of us are definitely more qualified to speak on these matters and we still don’t think we’re qualified to teach it.
If box plots require an formal and accredited statistics course to understand, but as you mention they are taught to 15 year olds (presumably incorrectly) in school and used by people with power making decisions that affect everyone in organisations such as the UN and NASA, then even if the author is unqualified it seems their point is 'accidentally' correct. No one should be using these plots except extremely smart and trained people who do know how to read them, as it could have serious negative consequences.
I naively assumed that ten years of teaching data visualization at NASA, Yale, Visa, the U.N., UofT, etc. would qualify me to write about something like this, but I guess not. Thanks for setting me straight :-)
BTW, what terminology was I using incorrectly?
I fully agree that appeals to authority should be ignored. My profile has nothing to do with how right or wrong I might be.
Ad hominem arguments, however, should also be ignored. Saying that I'm unqualified doesn't prove anything and adds nothing to the discussion.
If you have specific criticisms of my reasoning, I'm more than happy to listen. If all you have are personal insults, however, well, enjoy the rest of your day.
Yes, the author is aware of that. They even stated so:
> Despite making more visual sense than box plots, I still wouldn’t recommend these design concepts or box plots in most situations because…
Seems a few people missed the "in most situations" part. He's saying he stopped using them for whatever reasons because it isn't working for his audience. So as the title suggests, maybe we should all take a look at our use of box plots and see if there are better alternatives.
Also remember who he's talking about when it comes to reading box plots. He's not talking about people who understand box plots. He's talking about others that don't know or understand box plots, which seems to be thousands of people he's had to explain it to, according to him.