Stata graphs: Spider plots
(Feb 2024 update: This article is superceded by the Stata “spider” package. The article might still be relevant for understanding how these plots are constructed.)
In this guide, learn to make spider plots in Stata. We will use the Oxford COVID-19 policy tracker to generate the following graphs:
This visualization builds on the previous Radial plots guide.
Preamble
Like other guides, a basic knowledge of Stata is assumed. This guide deals with advanced usage of locals, loops, and code structures that require some experience and familiarity with Stata programming. If you are using this guide for the first time, and are new to Stata, then Guide 1 and Guide 2 are highly recommended, followed by the next set of guides which are in increasing order of difficulty.
In order to make the graphs exactly as they are shown here, several additional item are required:
- In order to make the graphs exactly as they are shown here, install the schemepack suite (more info in the Scheme guide and on GitHub):
ssc install schemepack, replace
and set the scheme to White Tableau:
set scheme white_tableau
- Install Ben Jann’s colorpalette package (more on colors in Guide 2 and in the Color…