Plot a spider chart across continuous and binary variables

This function summarizes a set of variables and displays them on a spider chart. Continuous variables are plotted as mean z-scores by default using CreateZScoreObject(), while binary variables are plotted as percentages. It can overlay groups on one spider chart or facet by group, optionally fill the polygons, relabel spokes using variable labels, wrap long labels, reorder variables to visually emphasize between-group differences, and optionally return an interactive radar chart using plotly.

Usage

PlotSpiderChart(
  data,
  variables,
  group_var = NULL,
  Relabel = TRUE,
  ContinuousSummary = "mean",
  ContinuousScaling = "zscore",
  Fill = FALSE,
  FillAlpha = 0.2,
  Facet = FALSE,
  VariableOrder = "input",
  VariableCategories = NULL,
  BinaryPositiveValue = 1,
  Palette = NULL,
  LineSize = 1,
  PointSize = 2,
  ShowPoints = FALSE,
  LegendTitle = NULL,
  PlotTitle = NULL,
  Subtitle = NULL,
  Caption = NULL,
  AxisLabelSize = 12,
  AxisTextSize = 10,
  StripTextSize = 11,
  WrapLabels = TRUE,
  LabelWrapWidth = 22,
  LabelRadiusMultiplier = 1.22,
  PlotMarginTop = 40,
  PlotMarginRight = 120,
  PlotMarginBottom = 40,
  PlotMarginLeft = 120,
  interactive = FALSE,
  InteractiveHeight = 700,
  InteractiveWidth = NULL,
  InteractiveAxisMin = NULL,
  InteractiveAxisMax = NULL,
  tooltip_digits = 2,
  Data = lifecycle::deprecated(),
  Variables = lifecycle::deprecated(),
  GroupVariable = lifecycle::deprecated(),
  TooltipDigits = lifecycle::deprecated(),
  MakeInteractive = lifecycle::deprecated()
)

Arguments

data

A data frame.

variables

Character vector of variable names to plot.

group_var

Optional grouping variable name. If NULL, one overall summary profile is plotted.

Relabel

Logical; if TRUE, use variable labels when available.

ContinuousSummary

Character; one of "mean" or "median".

ContinuousScaling

Character; one of "zscore", "none", or "minmax".

Fill

Logical; if TRUE, add transparent polygon fills in the static ggplot version and filled polygons in the interactive version.

FillAlpha

Numeric transparency for fills.

Facet

Logical; if TRUE and GroupVariable is supplied, facet by group instead of overlaying all groups on one spider chart. Ignored when interactive = TRUE.

VariableOrder

Character; one of "input", "discrimination", "hierarchical", "greedy", or "category_discrimination".

VariableCategories

Optional character vector of categories for Variables. Must be the same length as Variables when supplied.

BinaryPositiveValue

Optional positive value to use for non-factor binary variables. Defaults to 1. For factor variables, the second factor level is used.

Palette

Optional character name of an hcl.colors() palette. When NULL (the default), the SciDataReportR palette is used. Passing a name such as "Dark 3" still works exactly as before.

LineSize

Numeric line width for the static ggplot version.

PointSize

Numeric point size for the static ggplot version.

ShowPoints

Logical; if TRUE, show points at each spoke in the static ggplot version.

LegendTitle

Optional legend title. Defaults to GroupVariable.

PlotTitle

Optional plot title.

Subtitle

Optional plot subtitle.

Caption

Optional plot caption.

AxisLabelSize

Numeric axis text size for spoke labels in the static ggplot version.

AxisTextSize

Numeric text size for radial axis labels in the static ggplot version.

StripTextSize

Numeric facet strip text size in the static ggplot version.

WrapLabels

Logical; if TRUE, wrap long spoke labels.

LabelWrapWidth

Numeric wrap width passed to stringr::str_wrap().

LabelRadiusMultiplier

Numeric multiplier controlling how far labels sit outside the spider in the static ggplot version.

PlotMarginTop

Numeric top plot margin for the static ggplot version.

PlotMarginRight

Numeric right plot margin for the static ggplot version.

PlotMarginBottom

Numeric bottom plot margin for the static ggplot version.

PlotMarginLeft

Numeric left plot margin for the static ggplot version.

interactive

Logical; if TRUE, return an interactive plotly radar chart instead of a static ggplot. Default is FALSE.

InteractiveHeight

Numeric height in pixels for the interactive widget.

InteractiveWidth

Optional width passed to plotly layout. Defaults to NULL.

InteractiveAxisMin

Optional numeric minimum for the interactive radial axis. If NULL, auto-detected from the summarized values.

InteractiveAxisMax

Optional numeric maximum for the interactive radial axis. If NULL, auto-detected from the summarized values.

tooltip_digits

Integer number of digits to show in interactive tooltips.

Data

Deprecated (since 19.15.0). Use data instead.

Variables

Deprecated (since 19.15.0). Use variables instead.

GroupVariable

Deprecated (since 19.15.0). Use group_var instead.

TooltipDigits

Deprecated (since 19.15.0). Use tooltip_digits instead.

MakeInteractive

Deprecated (since 19.15.0). Use interactive instead.

Value

A ggplot object when interactive = FALSE, otherwise a plotly htmlwidget.

Examples

data(SampleData)
data(SampleVariableTypes)

Labelled <- RevalueData(SampleData, SampleVariableTypes)$RevaluedData

vars_biomarkers <- c(
  "Ab_42", "p_tau", "tau", "GRO_alpha", "MMP10", "MMP7", "TRAIL_R3"
)
categories_biomarkers <- c(
  "Neurodegeneration", "Neurodegeneration", "Neurodegeneration",
  "Inflammation", "Inflammation", "Matrix remodeling", "TNF signaling"
)

# Input order preserves the supplied clinical/domain sequence.
PlotSpiderChart(
  data = Labelled,
  variables = vars_biomarkers,
  group_var = "Diagnosis",
  VariableOrder = "input"
)


# Discrimination puts the largest between-group differences next to each other.
PlotSpiderChart(
  data = Labelled,
  variables = vars_biomarkers,
  group_var = "Diagnosis",
  VariableOrder = "discrimination"
)


# Hierarchical order groups biomarkers with similar Diagnosis profiles.
PlotSpiderChart(
  data = Labelled,
  variables = vars_biomarkers,
  group_var = "Diagnosis",
  VariableOrder = "hierarchical"
)


# Greedy order places consecutive spokes with maximally different profiles.
PlotSpiderChart(
  data = Labelled,
  variables = vars_biomarkers,
  group_var = "Diagnosis",
  VariableOrder = "greedy"
)


# Category/discrimination order keeps domains together, then ranks the
# biomarkers within each domain by their between-group difference.
PlotSpiderChart(
  data = Labelled,
  variables = vars_biomarkers,
  group_var = "Diagnosis",
  VariableOrder = "category_discrimination",
  VariableCategories = categories_biomarkers
)


# Interactive (plotly) version of the category-aware chart.
PlotSpiderChart(
  data = Labelled,
  variables = vars_biomarkers,
  group_var = "Diagnosis",
  VariableOrder = "category_discrimination",
  VariableCategories = categories_biomarkers,
  interactive = TRUE
)