Mosaic plot

A mosaic plot (also known as a Marimekko diagram) is a graphical method for visualizing data from two or more qualitative variables. It is the multidimensional extension of spineplots, which graphically display the same information for only one variable. It gives an overview of the data and makes it possible to recognize relationships between different variables. For example, independence is shown when the boxes across categories all have the same areas. Mosaic plots were introduced by Hartigan and Kleiner in 1981 and expanded on by Friendly in 1994. Mosaic plots are also called Mekko charts due to their resemblance to a Marimekko print. A mosaic plot (also known as a Marimekko diagram) is a graphical method for visualizing data from two or more qualitative variables. It is the multidimensional extension of spineplots, which graphically display the same information for only one variable. It gives an overview of the data and makes it possible to recognize relationships between different variables. For example, independence is shown when the boxes across categories all have the same areas. Mosaic plots were introduced by Hartigan and Kleiner in 1981 and expanded on by Friendly in 1994. Mosaic plots are also called Mekko charts due to their resemblance to a Marimekko print. As with bar charts and spineplots, the area of the tiles, also known as the bin size, is proportional to the number of observations within that category. A classic example of mosaic plots uses data from the passengers on the Titanic. The data used for this example has 2201 observations and 3 variables. The variables are: