3. Production Process Characterization 3.4. Data Analysis for PPC 3.4.2. How do I tell if there are any relationships between factors and responses?
The first analysis of our data is exploration.	Once we have a data file created in the desired format, checked the data integrity, and have estimated the summary statistics on the response variables, the next step is to start exploring the data and try to understand the underlying structure. The most useful tools will be various forms of the basic scatter plot and box plot.
	These techniques will allow pair wise explorations for examining relationships between any pair of response variables, any pair of explanatory and response variables, or a response variable as a function of any two explanatory variables. Beyond three dimensions we are pretty much limited by our human frailties at visualization.
Graph everything that makes sense	In this exploratory phase, the key is to graph everything that makes sense to graph. These pictures will not only reveal any additional quality problems with the data but will also reveal influential data points and will guide the subsequent modeling activities.
Graph responses, then explanatory versus response, then conditional plots	The order to do the analyses that generally proves most effective is to first graph all of the responses against each other in a pair wise fashion. Then we graph responses against the explanatory variables. This will give an indication of the main factors that have an effect on response variables. Finally we graph response variables, conditioned on the levels of explanatory factors. This is what reveals interactions between explanatory variables. We will use nested boxplots and block plots to visualize interactions.