PathView
The Indiana University Advanced Visualization Lab, in collaboration with the Department of Sociology, has developed PathView (PV), a visual data mining tool for exploring complex data structures resulting from extensive studies carried out (primarily) in the field of sociology. Due to its flexibility, PathView also finds application in other fields of study such as business and medical sciences. The tool takes categorical data related in some way and then translates the relation into lines, called pathways, which are plotted in n-dimensional space using parallel coordinates. A user can explore the visualizations using a variety of techniques such as highlighting, eliminating, sorting, rearranging, and zooming. PV allows the user to search for structures of interest and is best interpreted as a method of classification analysis. Using its simple, effective interaction techniques and visualization, PV is being used by researchers to reveal complex information in a manner much simpler than otherwise possible.
Scott Long, Sociology, IU
Pooja Gupta, AVL, IU
