Diagramme de Kiviat

A radar chart is a graphical method of displaying multivariate data in the form of a two-dimensional chart of three or more quantitative variables represented on axes starting from the same point. The relative position and angle of the axes is typically uninformative, but various heuristics, such as algorithms that plot data as the maximal total area, can be applied to sort the variables (axes) into relative positions that reveal distinct correlations, trade-offs, and a multitude of other comparative measures. The radar chart is also known as web chart, spider chart, spider graph, spider web chart, star chart, star plot, cobweb chart, irregular polygon, polar chart, or Kiviat diagram. It is equivalent to a parallel coordinates plot, with the axes arranged radially. The radar chart is a chart and/or plot that consists of a sequence of equi-angular spokes, called radii, with each spoke representing one of the variables. The data length of a spoke is proportional to the magnitude of the variable for the data point relative to the maximum magnitude of the variable across all data points. A line is drawn connecting the data values for each spoke. This gives the plot a star-like appearance and the origin of one of the popular names for this plot. The star plot can be used to answer the following questions: Which observations are most similar, i.e., are there clusters of observations? (Radar charts are used to examine the relative values for a single data point (e.g., point 3 is large for variables 2 and 4, small for variables 1, 3, 5, and 6) and to locate similar points or dissimilar points.) Are there outliers? Radar charts are a useful way to display multivariate observations with an arbitrary number of variables. Each star represents a single observation. Typically, radar charts are generated in a multi-plot format with many stars on each page and each star representing one observation. The star plot was first used by Georg von Mayr in 1877. Radar charts differ from glyph plots in that all variables are used to construct the plotted star figure.