Editing 2713: Data Point

{{comic
| number    = 2713
| date      = December 19, 2022
| title     = Data Point
| image     = data_point_2x.png
| imagesize = 315x409px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = In general you should only include your single best data point in the paper. The rest of the data can go in the supplementary materials.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a REALLY COOL DATA POINT. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

When scientific measurements are made, the conclusions are almost always based on many data points observed in relation to each other. The comic jokes that a single data point can somehow be of sufficient interest in isolation that the other data may be disregarded. In reality, a single datum can almost never represent what the information in the related data taken together indicate. 

In this case the data point looks like a {{w|TIE fighter}} flying at you from the direction of the Sun. This is so cool that the entire focus of the scientific paper should be on this figure alone, as stated in the caption. [[Randall]] suggests this is a "science power move."  (This is very similar to the [[:Category:Science tip|science tips]] in previous comics).

This is most likely intended as factitious satire, because the purpose of a chart or graph figure is to present multiple data which would be less clear than tabular or textual data, so there is never any reason to devote a figure to a single datum, regardless of its importance. It is could be a joke about papers which only highlight particularly interesting or significant data without including the background measurements or similar mundane information necessary to fully understand or reproduce the findings. While there are [https://www.aje.com/en/arc/data-not-shown-4-reasons-omit-figure-or-table/ accepted reasons for this practice,] it can be annoying when trying to follow an otherwise useful procedure or comparing aspects of the results the authors did not anticipate.

The title text suggests relegating all the other data to supplementary materials, presumably to avoid detracting from the single "cool" datum.

==Transcript==

:[A graph is shown. There are regularly spaced labels along both axes. The graph itself is black with a round white center from where white lines "radiate" out in all directions, like a star or sun. In the center there is a single data point with short symmetrical vertical error bars. Beneath the graph there are two lines of unreadable caption text to the left, next to a rectangular legend box on the right with one dot, indication the data point, and a label. Above the graph it is titled:]

:Figure 2.

:[Caption beneath the panel:]
:Science power move: When one of your data points is really cool, devote a whole figure to it.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Scientific research]]