Visualization of Multidimensional Data in Nursing Science.

Nursing scientists have long been interested in complex, context-dependent questions addressing individual- and population-level challenges in health and illness. These critical questions require multilevel data (e.g., genetic, physiologic, biologic, behavioral, affective, and social). Advances in data-gathering methods have resulted in the collection of large sets of complex, multifaceted, and often non-comparable data. Scientific visualization is a powerful methodological tool for facilitating understanding of these multidimensional data sets. Our purpose is to demonstrate the utility of scientific visualization as a method for identifying associations, patterns, and trends in multidimensional data as exemplified in two studies. We describe a brief history of visual analysis, processes involved in scientific visualization, and opportunities and challenges in the use of visualization methods. Scientific visualization can play a crucial role in helping nurse scientists make sense of the structure and underlying patterns in their data to answer vital questions in the field.

Duke Scholars

Author Sharron Lee Docherty School of Nursing

Author Debra Huffman Brandon School of Nursing

Author Constance Margaret Johnson School of Nursing