Polygraph diagrams for holistic visualization of data sets using multiple-units of analysis

This paper describes a diagramming notation called the polygraph diagram. This notation was developed as part of the Hawaii Marine Science Studies (HMSS) high school curriculum by members of the Curriculum Research and Development Group at the University of Hawaii. A polygraph diagram is a way to create a 2-dimensional, holistic representation of multiple variables that use more than one unit of analysis. A central feature of the polygraph diagram is that each scale is independent of the others. Each scale uses the unit of analysis appropriate to the characteristic (e.g. counts, lengths, or mass data). This paper both illustrates the construction of polygraph diagrams as well as shows how the resulting footprint facilitates classification situations encountered by fisheries biologists.