distplot updated on SSC

[Nick Cox]

Thanks as always to Kit Baum, distplot has been updated on SSC. The last previous update on SSC was in 2003, but the last previous update was in the Stata Journal in 2010.

distplot is for plotting cumulative probabilities (vertical axis or y axis) versus values of a variable (horizontal or x axis), thus show the ((emprical) cumulative) distribution function for one or more variables and/or subsets of a variable.

The history of distplot is shown by a search in Stata with the historical option.

SJ-10-1 gr41_4  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Software update for distplot
        (help distplot if installed)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q1/10   SJ 10(1):164
        new reverse(ge) option specifies plotting probabilities or
        frequencies greater than or equal to any data value

SJ-5-3  gr0018  . . . . . . . . . .  Speaking Stata: The protean quantile plot
        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q3/05   SJ 5(3):442--460           (see gr41_3 and gr42_3 for commands)
        discusses quantile and distribution plots as used in
        the analysis of species abundance data in ecology

SJ-5-3  gr41_3  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Software update for distplot
        (help distplot if installed)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q3/05   SJ 5(3):471
        simplified syntax; both by() and over() are now allowed

SJ-4-2  gr0004  .  Speaking Stata: Graphing categorical and compositional data
        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q2/04   SJ 4(2):190--215                                 (no commands)
        discusses graphical possibilities for categorical and
        compositional data

SJ-4-1  gr0003  . . . . . . . . . . . . Speaking Stata: Graphing distributions
        . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q1/04   SJ 4(1):66--88                                   (no commands)
        a review of official and user-written commands for
        graphing univariate distributions; includes tricks
        beyond what is obviously and readily available

SJ-3-4  gr41_2  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Software update for distplot
        (help distplot if installed)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q4/03   SJ 3(4):449
        option tscale() renamed as trscale()

SJ-3-2  gr41_1  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Software update for distplot
        (help distplot if installed)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        Q2/03   SJ 3(2):211
        enhanced to use Stata 8 graphics and provides new options

STB-51  gr41  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Distribution function plots
        (help distplot if installed)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  N. J. Cox
        9/99    pp.12--16; STB Reprints Vol 9, pp.108--112
        plots the cumulative distribution function or survival function
        and allows multiple variables

Of these the original 1999 article

Cox, N.J. 1999. Distribution function plots. Stata Technical Bulletin 51: 12-16

remains accessible at http://www.stata-press.com/journals/...ents/stb51.pdf and retains some value as a concise overview of the main idea (but note that on p.13 I should have written #(X <= x_i) / n)

while the 2004 articles accessible at

http://www.stata-journal.com/sjpdf.h...iclenum=gr0003

http://www.stata-journal.com/sjpdf.h...iclenum=gr0004

are broader discussions, including a variety of examples and some comparisons of methods.

So, what's new? The main change in functionality is simpler default titles for the y axis, which is not a big deal. I have, however. worked a lot at the help file, adding some recent references, making the examples easier to repeat by users, and -- particularly -- adding a section explaining concretely precisely what is plotted.

This update has been on the to-do list for a while but was pushed up by recent threads on Statalist, particularly one started by Maria Sundaram. https://www.statalist.org/forums/for...om-of-rcd-plot

The update will I trust also appear in Stata Journal 17(4) in the last issue of 2017.