Visualizing Correlation Matrices in R

It is not easy to process a numeric representation of a correlation matrix that is more than 4x4, for most of us...in R, the "pairs" graph can be useful for up to about 10x10 matrices, but the R graph gallery has another option, here . This comes from Andrew Gelman's blog - where there are other examples, too (be sure to read the comments). In one case, the matrix format is abandoned - variables are arranged along the circumference of a circle - see here.

Some of the discussion has to do with using the arrangement of variables to guide exploratory analysis. In the matrix format, for example, by ordering variables by the expected strength of correlation, for example. Graphical 'testing' at the exploratory stage can save a lot of time and trouble, if it is not too time consuming itself!