Volume 36 - Article 21 | Pages 627–658  

Visualizing compositional data on the Lexis surface

By Jonas Schöley, Frans Willekens

Abstract

Background: The Lexis surface plot is an established visualization tool in demography. Its present utility, however, is limited to the domain of one-dimensional magnitudes such as rates and counts. Visualizing proportions among three or more groups on a period-age grid is an unsolved problem.

Objective: We seek to extend the Lexis surface plot to the domain of compositional data.

Methods: We propose four techniques for visualizing group compositions on a period-age grid. To demonstrate the techniques we use data on age-specific cause-of-death compositions in France from 1925 to 1999. We compare the visualizations for compliance with multiple desired criteria.

Results: Compositional data can effectively be visualized on the Lexis surface. A key feature of the classical Lexis surface plot – to show age, period, and cohort patterns – is retained in the domain of compositions. The optimal choice among the four proposed techniques depends primarily on the number of groups making up the composition and whether or not the plot should be readable by people with impaired colour vision.

Contribution: We introduce techniques for visualizing compositional data on a period-age grid to the field of demography and demonstrate the usefulness of the techniques by performing an exploratory analysis of age-specific French cause-of-death patterns across the 20th century. We identify strengths and weaknesses of the four proposed techniques. We contribute a technique to construct the ternary-balance colour scheme from within a per- ceptually uniform colour space.

Comments: A full-colour representation is key to understanding the paper. Therefore, we recommend that you read it on screen or print a colour version.

Author's Affiliation

• Jonas Schöley - Max-Planck-Institut für Demografische Forschung, Germany EMAIL
• Frans Willekens - Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut (NIDI), the Netherlands EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Programmatic access to open statistical data for population studies: The SDMX standard
Volume 49 - Article 40

The centered ternary balance scheme: A technique to visualize surfaces of unbalanced three-part compositions
Volume 44 - Article 19

Interdisciplinary Research on Healthy Aging: Introduction
Volume 38 - Article 10

Software for multistate analysis
Volume 31 - Article 14

Chronological objects in demographic research
Volume 28 - Article 23

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Two-dimensional contour decomposition: Decomposing mortality differences into initial difference and trend components by age and cause of death
Volume 50 - Article 41    | Keywords: decomposition methods, mortality

International completeness of death registration
Volume 50 - Article 38    | Keywords: data collection, death, mortality, statistics, sustainable development goals, vital registration

Incorporating subjective survival information in mortality and change in health status predictions: A Bayesian approach
Volume 50 - Article 36    | Keywords: Bayesian demography, health, mortality, self report, subjective mortality probabilities

Standardized mean age at death (MADstd): Exploring its potentials as a measure of human longevity
Volume 50 - Article 30    | Keywords: formal demography, life expectancy, mean age at death, mortality, standardization

Differences in mortality before retirement: The role of living arrangements and marital status in Denmark
Volume 50 - Article 20    | Keywords: inequalities, living arrangements, marital status, mortality, retirement