Thanks to Kit Baum, a -beamplot- package is
now on SSC, as promised on 24 May on this list.
Stata 9 is required.
-beamplot- encapsulates a classic idea, that
of the mean as the centre of gravity of
a distribution, to produce horizontal dotplots
on which a beam is shown as "supporting" the
data (mathematical/physical pun intended)
and a fulcrum is shown at the point at
which the dotplot would balance.
You may be reminded of the principle of a
see-saw
teeter totter
bascule
Wippe
or whatever you call it in your language.
Those who like -dotplots- and have been Stata
users for some time will know of official Stata's
long support for the -dotplot- command.
You can have any orientation of
-dotplot- you like, so long as it is vertical. The
original authors of -dotplot- had a horizontal
version, but that got left behind a long while
ago.
By contrast, -beamplot- produces (only) horizontal
displays, as is implied by the centre-of-gravity
idea.
Among various other differences between -dotplot- and
-beamplot-, perhaps the most notable is that -beamplot-
supports both -over()- and -by()-.
Up to Stata 8, -dotplot, by()- produced separate dotplots within
a graph panel. This was non-standard syntax, as
compared with other graphics commands, and from
Stata 9, this option has been re-named -over(), and
-by()- is now not allowed.
There is no intrinsic reason why both should not
be supported, and I sent StataCorp a version of
-dotplot- which does precisely that. Changing the code is only
part of the matter, as StataCorp would also have
to change the help, dialog and test script files.
Anyway, my -beamplot- does allow both -over()- and -by()-.
There are some references in the help file, but I repeat
my request for extra literature references, especially for
much older or better ones than those given.
Nick
[email protected]
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