Introduction

Stacked dot plots are a type of plot that displays frequencies using dots, piled one over the other. In R, there are several ways to create stacked dot plots, including using base R and ggplot2. In this blog post, we will explore how to create stacked dot plots in both Base R and ggplot2, and provide several examples of each.

Examples Stacked Dot Plots in Base R

Method 1: The stripchart() function

The stripchart() function in base R can be used to create a basic stacked dot plot. Here is an example of how to use it:

# create some fake data
set.seed(0)
data <- sample(0:20, 100, replace = TRUE)

# create stacked dot plot
stripchart(data, method = "stack")

This will create a basic stacked dot plot. However, we can customize it to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Here is an example of how to do that:

# create some fake data
set.seed(0)
data <- sample(0:20, 100, replace = TRUE)

# create stacked dot plot
stripchart(data, method = "stack", offset = .5, at = 0,
           pch = 19, col = "steelblue", 
           main = "Stacked Dot Plot", xlab = "Data Values")

This will create a stacked dot plot with a blue color scheme and a more aesthetically pleasing layout.

Method 2: The dotchart() function

Another way to create a stacked dot plot in base R is to use the dotchart() function. Here is an example of how to use it:

# create some fake data
set.seed(0)
data <- sample(0:20, 100, replace = TRUE)

# create stacked dot plot
dotchart(data, cex = .7, col = "steelblue", 
         main = "Stacked Dot Plot", xlab = "Data Values")

This will create a stacked dot plot with a blue color scheme and a more aesthetically pleasing layout.

Examples Stacked Dot Plots in ggplot2

Method 1: The geom_dotplot() function

The geom_dotplot() function in ggplot2 can be used to create a basic stacked dot plot. Here is an example of how to use it:

# load ggplot2
library(ggplot2)

# create some fake data
set.seed(0)
data <- data.frame(x = sample(0:20, 100, replace = TRUE))

# create stacked dot plot
ggplot(data, aes(x = x)) + geom_dotplot() + theme_minimal()

Bin width defaults to 1/30 of the range of the data. Pick better value with
`binwidth`.

This will create a basic stacked dot plot. However, we can customize it to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Here is an example of how to do that:

# create some fake data
set.seed(0)
data <- data.frame(x = sample(0:20, 100, replace = TRUE))

# create customized stacked dot plot
ggplot(data, aes(x = x)) + 
  geom_dotplot(dotsize = .75, stackratio = 1.2, 
               fill = "steelblue") + 
  scale_y_continuous(NULL, breaks = NULL) + 
  labs(title = "Stacked Dot Plot", x = "Data Values") +
  theme_minimal()

This will create a stacked dot plot with a blue color scheme and a more aesthetically pleasing layout.

Method 2: The geom_jitter() function

Another way to create a stacked dot plot in ggplot2 is to use the geom_jitter() function. Here is an example of how to use it:

# create some fake data
set.seed(0)
data <- data.frame(x = sample(0:20, 100, replace = TRUE))

# create stacked dot plot
ggplot(data, aes(x = x, y = 0)) + 
  geom_jitter(height = .1, width = 0, alpha = .5, 
              color = "steelblue") + 
  labs(title = "Stacked Dot Plot", x = "Data Values") +
  theme_minimal()

This will create a stacked dot plot with a blue color scheme and a more aesthetically pleasing layout.

In conclusion, creating stacked dot plots in R is a simple and effective way to visualize frequency data. By using either base R or ggplot2, you can create aesthetically pleasing plots that are easy to interpret. We encourage readers to try creating their own stacked dot plots using the examples provided in this blog post.

ReferencesCitations:

[1] https://www.statology.org/stacked-dot-plot-in-r/
[2] https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-to-create-a-stacked-dot-plot-in-r/
[3] http://www.sthda.com/english/wiki/ggplot2-dot-plot-quick-start-guide-r-software-and-data-visualization
[4] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61471353/in-r-ggplot-how-do-i-stack-two-dotplots
[5] https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org/reference/geom_dotplot.html
[6] https://eurekastatistics.com/r-flavours-of-stacked-dotplots/