Conforming results to a scale

Question

I'm monitoring the change in certain values day over day. The changes vary, and can be of any value size, typically 1-100 difference, but maybe there is an outlier at 500 or even 900.

I want to be able to put these values on a set scale so I can plot them. Is there a formula I can use to limit the high end of the scale, so no matter how great the change I see, the scale value will be within a set range? For the sake of argument lets say the scale is 1-100. The higher the value, the closer it would be to 100, but never go over.

Answer 1

You can use a scaled range. Say you have an minimum of 0 and a maximum of 500. Then you could have a scale of 0 to 100 % and scale any value to it. For Value = 450 you plot 90 (%)

You could also use an logarthmic scale where you autoscale the maximum to the highest decade you have.