A Visual Guide to Stata Graphics

Whether you are new to Stata graphics or a seasoned veteran, this book will teach you how to use Stata to make publication-quality graphs that will stand out and enhance your statistical results. With over 1,200 illustrated examples and quick-reference tabs, this book quickly guides you to the information you need for creating and customizing high-quality graphs for any type of statistical data. Each graph is displayed in full color with simple and clear instructions that illustrate how to create and customize graphs using Stata commands. Whether you use this book as a learning tool or a quick reference, you will have the power of Stata graphics at your fingertips.

1 Introduction 1.1 Online supplements 1.2 Using this book 1.3 Types of Stata graphs 1.4 Schemes 1.4.1 Schemes included with Stata 1.4.2 Community-contributed schemes 1.4.3 Schemes included with this book 1.4.4 Setting schemes 1.5 Options 1.6 Building graphs 1.7 Point-and-click interface 2 Twoway graphs 2.1 Scatterplots 2.2 Regression fits and splines 2.3 Regression confidence interval fits 2.4 Line plots 2.5 Area plots 2.6 Bar plots 2.7 Range plots 2.8 Distribution plots 2.9 Contour plots 2.10 Options 2.11 Overlaying plots 3 Scatterplot matrix graphs 3.1 Marker options 3.2 Controlling axes 3.3 Matrix options 3.4 Graphing by groups 4 Bar graphs 4.1 Y variables 4.2 Graphing bars over groups 4.3 Options for controlling gaps between bars 4.4 Options for sorting bars 4.5 Controlling the categorical axis 4.6 Controlling the legend and labeling bars 4.7 Controlling the y axis 4.8 Changing the look of bars 4.9 Graphing by groups 5 Box plots 5.1 Specifying variables and groups 5.2 Options for controlling gaps between boxes 5.3 Options for sorting boxes 5.4 Controlling the categorical axis 5.5 Controlling the legend 5.6 Controlling the y axis 5.7 Changing the look of boxes 5.8 Graphing by groups 6 Dot plots 6.1 Specifying variables and groups 6.2 Options for controlling gaps between dots 6.3 Options for sorting dots 6.4 Controlling the categorical axis 6.5 Controlling the legend 6.6 Controlling the y axis 6.7 Changing the look of dot rulers 6.8 Graphing by groups 7 Pie charts 7.1 Types of pie charts 7.2 Sorting pie slices 7.3 Changing the look and color and exploding pie slices 7.4 Slice labels 7.5 Controlling the legend 7.6 Graphing by groups 8 Options available for most graphs 8.1 Changing the look of markers 8.2 Creating and controlling marker labels 8.3 Connecting points and markers 8.4 Setting and controlling axis titles 8.5 Setting and controlling axis labels 8.6 Controlling axis scales 8.7 Selecting an axis 8.8 Graphing by groups 8.9 Controlling the legend 8.10 Adding text to markers and positions 8.11 Options for text and textboxes 8.12 More options controlling the display of text 9 Standard options available for all graphs 9.1 Creating and controlling titles 9.2 Using schemes to control the look of graphs 9.2.1 Schemes included with Stata 9.2.2 Community-contributed schemes Graph schemes sensitive to color vision deficiency The 538 family of schemes The lean family of schemes 9.2.3 Schemes included with this book 9.2.4 Example #1: An overlaid scatterplot with fit lines 9.2.5 Example #2: An overlaid scatterplot with fit lines and confidence region Example #3: A bar chart The grstyle way of customizing graphs 9.2.6 Customizing schemes 9.2.7 Using the set scheme command 9.3 Sizing graphs and their elements 9.3.1 Sizing/resizing graphs with absolutely sized versus relatively sized units 9.4 Changing the look of graph regions 10 Styles for changing the look of graphs 10.1 Angle 10.2 Color 10.2.1 Named colors 10.2.2 Color intensity Increasing brightness Decreasing brightness The brightness spectrum 10.2.3 Color opacity 10.2.4 Overlapping colors 10.2.5 Specifying colors using RGB, CMYK, and HSV values 10.3 Clock position 10.4 Compass direction 10.5 Connecting points 10.6 Line patterns 10.7 Line width 10.8 Margin 10.9 Marker size 10.10 Orientation 10.11 Marker symbol 10.12 Text size 11 Appendix 11.1 Overview of statistical graph commands 11.2 Common options for statistical graphs 11.3 The marginsplot command 11.4 Saving, redisplaying, and combining graphs 11.5 Exporting graphs 11.6 More examples: Putting it all together 11.7 Common mistakes

Michael N. Mitchell is a senior statistician working in the area of sleep research as well as working on prevention of child maltreatment with the Children’s Data Network. He is the author of three other Stata Press books—Interpreting and Visualizing Regression Models Using Stata, Data Management Using Stata, and Stata for the Behavioral Sciences.