The sound of science : Data sonification has emerged as possible alternative to data visualization

Data are individual items of information obtained from a population or sample. Data may be classified as qualitative (categorical), quantitative continuous, or quantitative discrete. Because it is not practical to measure the entire population in a study, researchers use samples to represent the population. A random sample is a representative group from the population chosen by using a method that gives each individual in the population an equal chance of being included in the sample. Random...

The human ear is not equally sensitive to all frequencies in the audible range. It may perceive sound waves with the same pressure but different frequencies as having different loudness. Moreover, the perception of sound waves depends on the health of an individual's ears, which decays with age. The health of one's ears may also be affected by regular exposure to loud noises.
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same...

Sound waves, which are longitudinal waves, can be modeled as the displacement amplitude varying as a function of the spatial and temporal coordinates. As a column of the medium is displaced, its successive columns are also displaced. As the successive displacements differ relatively, a pressure difference with the surrounding pressure is created. The gauge pressure varies across the medium.
The pressure fluctuation depends on the difference in displacements between the successive points in the...

Bode plots are graphical tools that use logarithmic scales for frequency on the x-axis and gain in decibels on the y-axis. This logarithmic method allows a wide range of frequencies to be compactly displayed, enabling the analysis of component effects on circuit behavior across a broad frequency spectrum.
A network function represents the ratio of a system's output to its input, with the magnitude and phase angle derived from the complex network function. The decibel logarithmic gain is...

A time-series graph is a line graph with repeated measurements taken at successive intervals of time. It is also called a time series chart. To construct a time-series graph, one must look at both pieces of a paired data set. The horizontal axis is used to plot the time increments, and the vertical axis is used to plot the values of the variable that one is measuring. By using the axes in this way, each point on the graph will correspond to time and a measured quantity. The points on the graph...

The loudness of a sound source is related to how energetically the source is vibrating, consequently making the molecules of the propagation medium vibrate. To measure the loudness of a source, the physical quantity of interest is the intensity. This is defined as the energy emitted per unit of time per unit of area perpendicular to the sound wave's propagation direction. Since the total energy is greater if the source vibrates for a longer duration and over a larger area, dividing the...