One of the most commonly used chart types is the scatter plot, which is helpful for understanding relationships and patterns within your data.

By default, Power BI aggregates data points in scatter plots, summarizing them into clusters.

However, there are situations where you may want to create a scatter plot without aggregation to visualize individual data points.

In this blog post, we'll explore how to create scatter plots without aggregation to visualize individual data points in Power BI and when they are useful.

Understanding Scatter Plots in Power BI

A scatter plot is a graphical representation of data points on a two-dimensional plane, with each point represented by a marker. Scatter plots are primarily used to visualize the relationship between two numerical variables. In Power BI, when you drag two numeric fields to the "Values" and "Axis" areas of the scatter plot visualization, the data points are automatically aggregated, typically displayed as dots or circles with different sizes or colors based on the aggregation method (e.g., sum, average, count).

Creating a Scatter Plot without Aggregation in Power BI

To create a scatter plot without aggregation in Power BI, you'll need to make use of additional fields to uniquely identify each data point. Here's a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Load Your Data

Start by importing your data into Power BI or connecting to your data source. Ensure that you have all the necessary fields, including the two numeric variables you want to use for your scatter plot and an identifier field that uniquely identifies each data point.

Step 2: Create a Relationship

If your identifier field is not already linked to the numeric variables you want to plot, create a relationship between them in the Power BI Data Model.

Step 3: Build the Scatter Plot

Now, create a scatter plot visualization:

a. Go to the "Visualizations" pane.

b. Drag the identifier field to the "Details" area of the scatter plot visualization.

c. Drag one of the numeric variables to the "Values" area.

d. Drag the other numeric variable to the "Axis" area.

e. Customize your scatter plot as needed by adjusting labels, titles, and formatting.

When you add the identifier field to the "Details" area, it ensures that each data point is treated as a unique entity, preventing aggregation.

When to Use Scatter Plots without Aggregation

Scatter plots without aggregation are useful in various scenarios:

1. Individual Data Points: When you want to visualize individual data points and maintain their uniqueness. This is helpful for spotting outliers, anomalies, or specific data patterns.

2. Small Dataset: When you have a relatively small dataset where aggregating data points would not provide meaningful insights.

3. High Variability: When your data exhibits high variability and aggregating it would mask important variations and trends.

4. Identifying Relationships: When you want to explore relationships between two variables and need to see the exact values of data points to identify correlations or patterns.

5. Geospatial Analysis: When dealing with geographical data, such as latitude and longitude coordinates, and you want to plot individual data points on a map.

Conclusion

Power BI's scatter plot visualization is a valuable tool for exploring the relationships between two numerical variables in your data.

While it typically aggregates data points by default, you can create scatter plots without aggregation by including an identifier field.

This allows you to visualize individual data points, uncover patterns, and gain insights that might be obscured by aggregation.

Use scatter plots without aggregation when your data requires a more granular view, or when you want to identify outliers, correlations, or specific trends in your dataset.

With this technique, you can unlock the full potential of scatter plots in Power BI for your data analysis needs.