Understanding Observation Pages

This guide describes how to understand the observation pages on statistics.gov.scot. In this example this observation is a count of all crimes in the Scottish Borders spanning 2017/18.

Data tab

On an individual observation, the data tab shows the observed value, as well as the filters that have been applied to get to that value.

Charts tab

If the observation is part of a time-series, then this will show a line chart showing values over time, with the observation you've selected highlighted. This page also shows a bar chart of the other dimensions' values if that data is available. From this chart, it is possible to jump to other observations in the time-series.

API tab

The API tab shows all the detail necessary to understand the observation value - the area it relates to, the time period, the measure type, units etc. All of this information is presented in the tab in both human-readable and machine-readable forms. This is especially useful for if you want to run a SPARQL query.

Summary

• The Data tab shows the observed value, as well as the dimensions that have been locked to get to that value.
• The Charts tab shows a line chart showing values over time, and a bar chart of the other dimensions' values (if the observation is part of a time-series).
• The API tab shows the details behind the observation: the time period, the measure type, units etc. This is in human readable and machine readable forms (for those who want to work with the data programmatically).

To continue exploring our datasets, return to statistics.gov.scot