15.0 Multiple Line Chart

[Nathaniel Stafford]

Hi,

I am trying to plot multiple line charts to compare time-series of
experimental vs. reference values (means of multiple samples of both types
with standard error bars at each date).  However, no matter what method I
try, I can not get both lines to be plotted together.

This is a screen cap of the farthest along I can get:

http://img124.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=31794_spss_122_1036lo.jpg

I can enter the parameters for Line 1, but there does not appear to be
anywhere to do so for Line 2, and furthermore the "OK" button never seems
to activate.  Am I missing something (likely), or is Chart Builder that
bad (possible)?  Help!

[The 'Interactive' line method does not appear to allow multiple lines,
and while the 'Legacy Dialog' Line charts do allow multiple lines and the
use of summaries of separate variables as the data (with SE bars), the
output is minimally edit-able, and there are big problems:

1. Made-up data and SE values: reference values come from 5 different
dates, sample values from 8 dates (reference dates plus 3 additional
dates).  The output shows 8 data points for both:

http://img109.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=31799_spss2_122_1169lo.jpg

2. The x-axis is not scaled properly as dates, even though the same data
sheet plots the Date x-axis correctly in a single line plot.]

Can someone please point me in a direction.  Any direction.

Nate Stafford
Bell Lab, Dept. of Biology
University of South Florida
[hidden email]

P.S. 14.0 used to be great - you could make 2 plots and copy and paste one
on top of the other, and the pasted plot would strectch to match the
x-axis scale of the destination plot.  So far my experience with 15.0 is
that it is a HUGE step backwards.

[ViAnn Beadle]

Either select your multiple lines from the variables list first and then
drag the multiple selection or drag the first variable to the canvas. Now
select the second variable and drag it to the upper corner of the drop zone
and when you see a big plus, drop that. For detailed instructions, help the
Help button and then click on the topic for summaries of separate variables.

-----Original Message-----
From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
Nate Stafford
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 2:11 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: 15.0 Multiple Line Chart

Hi,

I am trying to plot multiple line charts to compare time-series of
experimental vs. reference values (means of multiple samples of both types
with standard error bars at each date).  However, no matter what method I
try, I can not get both lines to be plotted together.

This is a screen cap of the farthest along I can get:

http://img124.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=31794_spss_122_1036lo.jpg

I can enter the parameters for Line 1, but there does not appear to be
anywhere to do so for Line 2, and furthermore the "OK" button never seems
to activate.  Am I missing something (likely), or is Chart Builder that
bad (possible)?  Help!

[The 'Interactive' line method does not appear to allow multiple lines,
and while the 'Legacy Dialog' Line charts do allow multiple lines and the
use of summaries of separate variables as the data (with SE bars), the
output is minimally edit-able, and there are big problems:

1. Made-up data and SE values: reference values come from 5 different
dates, sample values from 8 dates (reference dates plus 3 additional
dates).  The output shows 8 data points for both:

http://img109.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=31799_spss2_122_1169lo.jpg

2. The x-axis is not scaled properly as dates, even though the same data
sheet plots the Date x-axis correctly in a single line plot.]

Can someone please point me in a direction.  Any direction.

Nate Stafford
Bell Lab, Dept. of Biology
University of South Florida
[hidden email]

P.S. 14.0 used to be great - you could make 2 plots and copy and paste one
on top of the other, and the pasted plot would strectch to match the
x-axis scale of the destination plot.  So far my experience with 15.0 is
that it is a HUGE step backwards.

[Nathaniel Stafford]

Thanks ViAnn, but unfortunately this does not solve my problem.  It simply
creates an x-axis index value and won't let me insert date as the
independent variable:

http://img41.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=33801_spss3_122_1079lo.jpg

This does not differentiate between dates, and merely compares the summary
statistic of all experimental values to all reference values regardless of
date.

So I am wondering if I have the data set up incorrectly?  Sample:

http://img132.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=33806_spss4_122_600lo.jpg

The 2 sets of data (reference and experimental) are each in 3 fields: site
name, date, and sample values.  The y-axis values that I am trying to plot
are the means (w/SE) of the replicate values for each date at this one
site FDSR1 ("G" indicates the experimental group).  The reference samples
have more replicates per date, while the experimental samples were
collected on more dates.  What I have been trying is to plot both the 3rd
and 6th fields on the y-axis with the 5th field as the x-axis (greater #
of dates).  Is there a better way to do this?

Still confused.

Nate Stafford
Bell Lab, Dept. of Biology
University of South Florida
813-974-5420
[hidden email]

> Either select your multiple lines from the variables list first and then
> drag the multiple selection or drag the first variable to the canvas. Now
> select the second variable and drag it to the upper corner of the drop
> zone
> and when you see a big plus, drop that. For detailed instructions, help
> the
> Help button and then click on the topic for summaries of separate
> variables.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SPSSX(r) Discussion [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
> Nate Stafford
> Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 2:11 PM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: 15.0 Multiple Line Chart
>
> Hi,
>
> I am trying to plot multiple line charts to compare time-series of
> experimental vs. reference values (means of multiple samples of both types
> with standard error bars at each date).  However, no matter what method I
> try, I can not get both lines to be plotted together.
>
> This is a screen cap of the farthest along I can get:
>
> http://img124.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=31794_spss_122_1036lo.jpg
>
> I can enter the parameters for Line 1, but there does not appear to be
> anywhere to do so for Line 2, and furthermore the "OK" button never seems
> to activate.  Am I missing something (likely), or is Chart Builder that
> bad (possible)?  Help!
>
> [The 'Interactive' line method does not appear to allow multiple lines,
> and while the 'Legacy Dialog' Line charts do allow multiple lines and the
> use of summaries of separate variables as the data (with SE bars), the
> output is minimally edit-able, and there are big problems:
>
> 1. Made-up data and SE values: reference values come from 5 different
> dates, sample values from 8 dates (reference dates plus 3 additional
> dates).  The output shows 8 data points for both:
>
> http://img109.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=31799_spss2_122_1169lo.jpg
>
> 2. The x-axis is not scaled properly as dates, even though the same data
> sheet plots the Date x-axis correctly in a single line plot.]
>
> Can someone please point me in a direction.  Any direction.
>
> Nate Stafford
> Bell Lab, Dept. of Biology
> University of South Florida
> [hidden email]
>
> P.S. 14.0 used to be great - you could make 2 plots and copy and paste one
> on top of the other, and the pasted plot would strectch to match the
> x-axis scale of the destination plot.  So far my experience with 15.0 is
> that it is a HUGE step backwards.
>
>