Punkteserien

Punkteserien is a term used in German- and Nordic-language statistical and data visualization contexts to describe a data representation that emphasizes discrete observations as individual points. The phrase translates roughly to “point series” and is used to distinguish plots that display measurements as separate markers from those that connect points with lines or fill areas between them.

Definition and characteristics

A punktserie consists of a sequence of data pairs (usually time and a measured value) plotted as points on a coordinate plane. The horizontal axis often represents time or another ordering variable, while the vertical axis shows the observed values. Spacing between points does not imply a continuous connection, and the series may include irregular sampling or missing values. Error bars or markers of uncertainty may accompany individual points to convey measurement variability.

Applications

Punkteserien is commonly used in exploratory data analysis, especially when the emphasis is on the integrity of each observation rather than on smoothed trends. It is suitable for datasets with irregular sampling, sporadic measurements, or when researchers want to avoid the potentially misleading effects of interpolation. In practice, punktserien can be implemented as scatter plots or as time-series plots that retain markers for each observation.

Relation to other plots

This approach contrasts with line plots or area plots, which emphasize continuity and trends by connecting data points. A punktserie may be complemented by trend lines or smoothing only when the analyst explicitly wishes to infer an underlying pattern.

See also

Scatter plot, Time series, Line plot, Dot plot, Data visualization.