Interactive Tools for Data Exploration

摘要

In complex data problems involving unknown structures and relationships, techniques which help analysts find features and characteristics of the data are particularly important. These techniques are useful predecessors to formal analysis methods. Computers have provided computational power to make a wide variety of such techniques available for data exploration. A computing facility with locator input, color graphics output, and audio output offers the basis for interactive data presentation tools. One such tool uses visual and aural representations of data to give the analyst a variety of perspectives of the data. By combining user interactivity with various data output techniques, the analyst can dynamically explore complex data sets looking for patterns, structures, relationships, and features. With application to example data sets, this tool illustrates a means of data exploration. (ERA citation 08:031006)