Cooper, Heron and Heward (2007) outline 6 advantages to graphic displays of behavior data:

1. Provide an immediate visual record of data
2. allow the ability to explore behavioral variations of data in realtime
3. serve as judgement aides that help interpret intervention results
4. allow for visual analysis
5. unbiased, independent judgement may be made from graphs
6. serve as an effective tool for client feedback

According to the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) Ethical Code section 3.01(b): “Behavior analysts have an obligation to collect and graphically display data.”

The X-axis (horizontal axis) is the abscissa.

The Y-axis (vertical axis) is the ordinate.