lapop_mline: LAPOP Multi-line Time-Series Graphs

In lapop: Processing, Visualizing, and Labeling Americas Barometer Data

LAPOP Multi-line Time-Series Graphs

Description

This function creates a time series graph utilizing multiple lines representing values of an outcome variable for different values of a secondary variable – for example, support for democracy over time by country. This function is designed to be used for AmericasBarometer data. The maximum number of lines is four. Unlike the lapop_ts() single-line time series graph, this function will not print confidence lines nor will it show text values for each year (just the final/most recent year).

Usage

lapop_mline(
  data,
  varlabel = data$varlabel,
  wave_var = as.character(data$wave),
  outcome_var = data$prop,
  label_var = data$proplabel,
  point_var = data$prop,
  ymin = 0,
  ymax = 100,
  main_title = "",
  source_info = "",
  subtitle = "",
  lang = "en",
  legend_h_just = 40,
  legend_v_just = -20,
  subtitle_h_just = 0,
  color_scheme = c("#784885", "#008381", "#c74e49", "#2d708e", "#a43d6a", "#202020"),
  percentages = TRUE,
  all_labels = FALSE,
  ci = FALSE,
  legendnrow = 1
)

Arguments

data	Data Frame. Dataset to be used for analysis. The data frame should have columns titled varlabel (values of secondary variable which will be used to make each line; character), wave (survey wave/year; character), prop (outcome variable; numeric), proplabel (text of outcome variable; character). Default: None (must be supplied).
varlabel, wave_var, outcome_var, label_var, point_var	Character, character, numeric, character, numeric. Each component of the data to be plotted can be manually specified in case the default columns in the data frame should not be used (if, for example, the values for a given variable were altered and stored in a new column).
ymin, ymax	Numeric. Minimum and maximum values for y-axis. Default: 0, 100.
main_title	Character. Title of graph. Default: None.
source_info	Character. Information on dataset used (country, years, version, etc.), which is added to the end of "Source: " in the bottom-left corner of the graph. Default: None (only "Source: " will be printed).
subtitle	Character. Describes the values/data shown in the graph, e.g., "Percent of Mexicans who agree...". Default: None.
lang	Character. Changes default subtitle text and source info to either Spanish or English. Will not translate input text, such as main title or variable labels. #' Takes either "en" (English) or "es" (Spanish). Default: "en".
legend_h_just, legend_v_just	Numeric. Changes location of legend. From 0 to 100. (secondary variable labels). Defaults: 40, -20.
subtitle_h_just	Numeric. Moves subtitle left to right. From 0 to 1. (secondary variable labels). Defaults: 0 (left justify).
color_scheme	Character. Color of lines and dots. Takes hex number, beginning with "#". Must specify four values, even if four are not used. Default: c("#784885", "#008381", "#c74e49", "#2d708e", "#a43d6a", "#202020").
percentages	Logical. Is the outcome variable a percentage? Set to FALSE if you are using means of the raw values, so that the y-axis adjusts accordingly. Default: TRUE.
all_labels	Logical. If TRUE, show text above all points, instead of only those in the most recent wave. Default: FALSE.
ci	Logical. Add "tie fighter" confidence intervals. Only recommended when each line represents a different variable.
legendnrow	Numeric. How many rows for legend labels. Default: 1.

Value

Returns an object of class ggplot, a ggplot line graph showing values of a variable over time.

Author(s)

Luke Plutowski, [e-mail] & Robert Vidigal, [e-mail]

Examples

df <- data.frame(varlabel = c(rep("Honduras", 9), rep("El Salvador", 9),
                              rep("Mexico", 9), rep("Guatemala", 9)),
                 wave = rep(c("2004", "2006", "2008", "2010", "2012",
                              "2014", "2016/17", "2018/19", "2021"), 4),
                 prop = c(19, 24, 21, 15, 11, 32, 41, 38, 54,
                          29, 29, 25, 24, 24, 28, 36, 26, 32,
                          14, 16, 14, 16, 9, 14, 18, 19, 26,
                          21, 15, 18, 20, 14, 18, 17, 25, 36),
                 proplabel = c("19%", "24%", "21%", "15%", "11%", "32%",
                               "41%", "38%", "54%",
                               "29%", "29%", "25%", "24%", "24%", "28%",
                               "36%", "26%", "32%",
                               "14%", "16%", "14%", "16%", "9%", "14%",
                               "18%", "19%", "26%",
                               "21%", "15%", "18%", "20%", "14%", "18%",
                               "17%", "25%", "36%"))
require(lapop); lapop_fonts()
lapop_mline(df,
      main_title = "Intentions to emigrate in Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico reached their highs",
      subtitle = "% who intend to migrate in:",
      source_info = ", AmericasBarometer 2004-2021")

lapop documentation built on April 30, 2026, 1:07 a.m.