A graph for every analysis: Mapping visuals onto common analyses using flexplot

Abstract

For decades, statisticians and methodologists have insisted researchers utilize graphical analysis much more heavily. Despite cogent and passionate recommendations, there has been no graphical revolution. Instead, researchers rely heavily on misleading graphics that violate visual processing heuristics. Perhaps the main reason for the persistence of deceptive graphics is software; most software familiar to psychological researchers suffer from poor defaults and limited capabilities. Also, visualization is ancillary to statistical analysis, providing an incentive to not produce graphics at all. In this paper, we argue that every statistical analysis must have an accompanying graphic, and we introduce the point-and-click software Flexplot, available both in JASP and Jamovi. We then present the theoretical framework that guides Flexplot, as well as show how to perform the most common statistical analyses in psychological literature.