Distribution analysis takes a look at how quantitative values are distributed along an axis, from the lowest to the highest. The characteristics emerge while looking at the shape of the data, such as central tendency, shape and outliers:
Goal: To understand, which demographics should be focused on for our marking approach for a specific product group
Question: The suitable age-range to target our new marketing campaign towards
Analysis: Use a histogram to see a useful range from the mean age
Getting ready
We will make use of the same Chapter 2 – Sales.qvf application which we have used in the "Comparison" recipe.
How to do it…
In the application overview, click on the button in the top right-hand corner and click on the Create New Sheet button. Name this sheet Distribution.
Once inside the newly created sheet, go to the charts asset pane and double click on the bar chart button .
In the properties pane to the right of your screen, click on Add data and select Dimension.
Click on the button for the input box of dimension and enter the following pre-calculated dimension. Label the dimension as Age.
=Aggr(Class(Age/19,1),Order)
Add the following line as the measure and label it Order Count.
Count(Order)
In the Properties panel, select Age under Sorting and check Sort numerically. In the dropdown located right below the Sort numerically check box, select the order as Ascending.
The final distribution chart should look like the following screenshot:
How it works…
Distribution visualizations help you to analyze one or two variables spread along an axis starting from the lowest to the highest. The shape of the data will tell you about characteristics, such as the central tendency, shape and outliers.