I’m Susan Kistler, the Executive Director of the American Evaluation Association and contributor of each Saturday’s post to aea365. Back on day 2 of aea365, in January of 2010, I recommended FlowingData as part of a post about favorite resources for data visualization inspiration.
Rad Resource: This month, FlowingData’s curator, Nathan Yau, published Visualize This: The FlowingData Guide to Design, Visualization, and Statistics. The reviews from readers on Amazon note “Nathan Yau is a rare breed that gets the balance between academia and reality,” and “The writing style is crisp and conversational and is organized around the kind of things one might want the data to communicate: time series, part-to-whole comparisons, relationships, etc. It does not require any expertise in programming or statistics to understand.”
In reading Yau’s contributions on FlowingData, I’ve found him to be articulate, his examples to be thoughtful, and his work to ensure that the story in the data comes shining through and looks good while doing it. He brings a statistics background to data visualization, attending to not sacrificing accuracy for the sake of art.
Hot Tip: My copy is on order (for me, this is the ultimate in summer beach reading), but you can win one of two copies of Visualize This, generously donated by our colleagues at John Wiley and Sons publishers. And it’s easy – how to win you ask?
- Go to FlowingData – or any site with data visualizations – and identify one that you find compelling
- Post a link to it in the comments for this post with a sentence or two noting why (or why not) you believe it tells well the story of the underlying data
We’ll all get inspired by one another’s great picks, and we’ll draw at random two names from among the comments posted on or before Friday, August 5, and send each a free copy of Visualize This. Anyone is welcome to enter, but only one entry per person please!
Hot Tip: Interested in Data Visualization? Be sure to attend the sessions at AEA’s Annual Conference this November, Evaluation 2011, sponsored by our newest Topical Interest Group on Data Visualization and Reporting. Hope to see you there!
The opinions above are my own and do not represent the official position of AEA nor an endorsement by the association. If you would like to add to or extend this discussion, please add to the comments below the post on the aea365 website.
I really like the way the graph represented surpluses and deficits over the years (and by administration). It is clear, concise, attractive and at the same time represents quite a bit of information. ‘This graph does tell a thousand word story’
See it here: http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/26/how-the-deficit-got-so-big/
I really liked the “World’s Population Concentrated” until I got to the bottom, Houston. Then I lost it as I could not see how the city of Houston erabout 23 whole states including the whole state of Texas. But the concept and the data display on the other maps was very creative and the visualization was clear.
See it here: http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/27/if-the-world-lived-in-a-single-city/
An image is worth a thousand words!
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/28/open-thread-data-as-cake-and-frosting/
Simple, straight and clear, I liked that image.
Save pens, use Garamond http://flowingdata.com/2010/01/29/save-pens-use-garamond-font/.
I like the drastic simplicity. When talking to stakeholders about evaluation results, I like them to see the bottom line in a graphic or chart, but it needs to be simple enough that they won’t be distracted from my words by necessary efforts to decode or interpret the information contained in a data representation. This fits the bill, in my opinion.
As an IR and assessment director for higher education, I found the recent post on Undergraduate Grade Inflation (http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/19/undergraduate-grade-inflation/#more-17851) to be interesting and well presented. I also like how Nathan is so good about asking questions about the data he presents rather than jumping to knee-jerk interpretations – for instance, in this post, he asks if the increase in average GPAs is due to more lenient grading or because students have gotten better.
Salaam All,
Only for my two cents and participation! Not for win a book!
Following the success of the original Barefoot Guide One, a brand new Barefoot Guide to Learning Practices in Organisations and Social Change (also referred to as the “Barefoot Guide Two” or BFG2) has been launched on the
http://www.barefootguide.org/
It is a resource for leaders, facilitators and practitioners wanting to improve and enrich their learning processes inside their organisations and in the field. It is written by different people from around the globe and is filled with ideas, real-life stories and practical exercises about strengthening learning in organizations and programmes that support social change.
Best
Moein
For my audience, this kind of visualization is perfect. We need to understand the data in depth – they don’t. They want the 50,000 foot view, so the easier, the better.
See it here: http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/28/open-thread-data-as-cake-and-frosting/
I love How to Win Rock-Paper-Scissors Every Time on Flowingdata.com, in part, because it’s silly and fun, and in part, because it depicts a great visually appealing graphic way to display data that is not necessarily numerical. http://flowingdata.com/2010/07/30/how-to-win-rock-paper-scissors-every-time/
New on the site is Expanded Rules for Rock-Paper-Scissors and I love this one for the same reasons.
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/08/expanded-rules-for-rock-paper-scissors/
I found that the Slate.com animation of jobs lost provided a great way to start the conversation about the different types of unemployment – and our current economic climate – for high schoolers in my macroeconomics class. http://www.slate.com/id/2216238/
I love infographics that are interactive, such as McCandless’s ‘Snake Oil?’ that enables you to assess the scientific evidence behind popular health supplements (http://bit.ly/oaBDni) or Fineo tool by DesignDensity that enables you to upload your own data and create an interactive infographic (http://bit.ly/pAMqZG).
My favourite is Economy Map by Jason Pearson that takes the non-spatial 1998 economic data from the United States and maps it using colour, links and size variation to enable a distinction, and thus understanding, of this complex data. Apart from its interactivity, the main reason I love it is because it’s alot of fun and is useful for so many industries that would probably not have realised the importance of this data without this sort of access. If you would like to read my review of it please head to my blog DRAWN (http://bit.ly/rr40wj).
While I also have all of this great wealth of knowledge about infographics, does anyone have any advice on potential supervisors/institutions anywhere in the world for a PhD in infographics/visual communication and architecture (buildings not software)? Please let me know here or find me on twitter @drawn_blog
One of my favorites is a unique offering…
http://data.vanderbilt.edu/rapache/bbplot/
These are bivariate baseball score plots (BBPLOTs). It is a very unique – and more importantly effective – method of graphically representing the score distribution (for/against) a given team. It is easy to determine the distribution as well as the tendecny of scores for each team. Drill-downs possibilities are almost endless.
I really like this graph about undergraduate grade inflation http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/19/undergraduate-grade-inflation/ and the discussion that follows it. It is vibrant and clear and makes you wonder….
I searched several posts at Flowing Data, and my favorite was:
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/12/flickr-and-twitter-mapped-together-see-something-or-say-something/
The data can be used to answer a variety of questions, but the display alone can generate additional hypotheses.
I really like this chart: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-f…
It is really easy to see what has happened over time, and the short annotation adds additional context to embellish the story, and give the shape of the graph more meaning. Simple but effective.
My favourite types of graphs are cosmographs (not to be confused with the rolex cosmograph). I’ve been in love with them ever since I was a child. There was a book I used to own with a such graph and I could easily grasp the evolution of birds from dinosaours. I can’t find the book to scan it, but I picked two examples to illustrate my fascination.
Here is one that is very clear and useful http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/project_details.cfm?id=72&index=72&domain=
And this one, well, I really can’t understad it’s purpose, so I’ll define it as the most useless: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22856372@N04/2425499768/sizes/o/in/pool-675290@N21/
I liked the US foreign debt breakdown graph as it so clearly illustrates shows how the US turned a surplus into a deficit in a matter of a few years!
We can all learn a lesson from it that debt leads to more debt unless there is a plan followed by actions to turn it around!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/foreign-held-us-debt/
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/27/if-the-world-lived-in-a-single-city/
I think this demonstration is great. It’s in a recognizable metric and I think helps people understand large numbers.
Like Daniel, the first thng that came to my mind when reading this was Edward Tufte’s visualization of Napoleon’s March. By far my favorite example of the power of graphics to convey a very data-related story. The graphic is a map, chronology of events, and record of the lives lost all in one. http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/minard
This map of Africa counteracts maps that show Africa as a small continent by placing Europe and many countries within Africa’s boundaries.
http://flowingdata.com/2010/10/18/true-size-of-africa/
I love how it smashes preconceived notions with one image.
This is a great way to display these data – this takes a huge number and makes it so comprehensible. Now if only someone could do this with the national debt!
See it here: http://persquaremile.com/2011/01/18/if-the-worlds-population-lived-in-one-city/#comment-2462
I like the classic Napoleon’s March poster from Edward Tufte’s books:
http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/posters
It compresses a lot of information and tells a story with just one image.
Now this is a great way to display these data – this takes a huge number and makes it so comprehensible. Now if only someone could do this with the national debt!
See it here: http://persquaremile.com/2011/01/18/if-the-worlds-population-lived-in-one-city/#comment-2462
I enjoyed the one about where UFOs were flying http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/07/where-the-aliens-are-flying-their-ufos/ and then it was compared to the maps of major airports. 🙂
I love this graphic because sometimes the simplest ideas are the hardest to illustrate, and this is perfect for those of us who struggle with the erroneous concept that “data” is the same as information or knowlegde or wisdom. Perfect! (Did I mention I already have it cut out and pasted on my office door?)
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/28/open-thread-data-as-cake-and-frosting/
Flicker and Twitter mapped.
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/12/flickr-and-twitter-mapped-together-see-something-or-say-something/
This is simple and direct, but tells such and interesting story about the digital gap across our species.
Undergraduate grade inflation http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/19/undergraduate-grade-inflation/ is effective because it shows clear data lines, but less effective because the all-gray scatterplot undoes the effect of the distinction. Plus, the typo in the accompanying description, “Does this mean teachers and professors have been higher grades” distracts from the message.
I still find CNN’s visualization of Afghanistan and Iraq war casualties to be quite sobering. Notice the time series of casualties showing increasing losses in Afghanistan. Also the ability to drill down to the individual is a moving touch.
See it here: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/war.casualties/index.html
I’m in love with this World Map of Useless Stereotypes. Its a great way to represent how interconnected we remain despite out efforts do draw distinctions between us. Plus, it makes me smile.
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/15/world-map-of-useless-stereotypes/
Ok, I will be honest. I looked at this website because I wanted to see what airlines (that I may not know about) flies to Alabama.
I find this web-like patterns visually catching and you can tell where each airline flies the most fairly quickly. It helps if you remember your U.S. geography.
http://flowingdata.com/2011/05/05/where-do-major-airlines-fly-in-the-united-states/
Working in a university setting, I found this chart http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/19/undergraduate-grade-inflation/ from Flowing Data to be very interesting. I think that it is a great example of a data view that leads the reader to ask more questions.
This viz is on the Tableau site. It catches your eye with the colors and curvy lines. With a quick glance I can tell what is happening and with a little curiosity I discover I can ‘slide’ through the years and see how the story changes.
It was done by Peter Aldhous published on New Scientist. Attractive, compelling and simple to view.
View it here: http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/gallery/beautiful-and-dangerous-history
http://projects.propublica.org/schools/
This is a great example of making lots of data easily accessible and highly useful for the public for both decision-making and advocacy.
I have been using R to enhance the data visualization of Airline Training data. The following site is a great starting point for other interested in using R for Advanced Charts. (http://processtrends.com/toc_r.htm#R_Works_With_Factors)
I’ve chosen a link that uses photos of various stages of cake construction to illustrate data, information, presentation, and knowledge. The metaphor is very effective as it shows data as the raw material (flour & eggs) and informaion as the baked cake (processed raw material), presentation is represented with a frosted cake and knowledge is represented with an empty plate. The empty plate photo generated the most comments as some interpreted it as the absence of cake but I interpreted it as the consumption of cake.
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/28/open-thread-data-as-cake-and-frosting/
In light of the current rise in gas prices and my current interest in choropleth maps, I recommend looking at “Are gas prices really that high?” (http://flowingdata.com/2011/03/22/are-gas-prices-really-that-high/).
I loved the graph on grade inflation: http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/19/undergraduate-grade-inflation/ In addition to the general inflation seen over time (pressures which I definitely experienced when teaching college courses), it is fascinating to see the large gap between public and private schools. I wonder if the private schools are more likely to see students as “customers” who must be kept satisfied with high grades.
I’m an internal evaluator at a non-profit youth center in downtown Washington, D.C. We serve over 4,000 youth in 80+ programs each year. Our direct service program staff have a range of experience levels with data and analysis – their educational backgrounds range from GEDs to Ph.D.s. – so I love finding ways to communicate results about their programs in ways that are easy to understand and, ahem, sexy. I love to kick off a new program evaluation by showing Hans Rosling’s video, “200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes.” The staff say that Hans Rosling’s enthusiasm for data reminds them of Bill Nye the Science Guy – when they were kids and learning new information was fun and exciting (rather than something they just do to satisfy funders’ reporting requirements). This video really sets a great tone for each of my new evaluation projects since Hans’ visualization is an intriguing conversation-starter that makes staff want to learn even more about the topics. They leave the meeting ready to dive into their program’s evaluation process with a curious, open mind and a new passion for data.
See it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo
This group of graphics on food consumption is pretty cool because it highlights the role of creativity during analysis and reporting. There are tons of ways to communicate the same idea. http://flowingdata.com/2011/06/29/a-year-of-food-consumption-visualized/
I especially enjoyed the creativity in the visualization Nathan Yau calls “College High.” His use of icons that form a dollar sign is unique, particularly since each icon represents an element of college expenditures. He also used the “circle” to represent the intensity of college costs. The data visual was unique, colorful, and striking.
These visuals are what arts integration is all about. We should be teaching our high school math students how to use this form of art to represent quantities, rather than the mindless, lack of creativity in high stakes testing. Actually, there is a real need to begin 2D-3D visual spatial capacities in elementary school to reach students using differentiated instruction with visualizations.
Well done Nathan!! Howard Gardner will be proud!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncy111/3967368965/in/pool-1224592@N20
[aea365 editor’s note: Yau often curate’s other’s content – sharing it via his blog and providing commentary. This graphic appears to have been developed by Robert Di Ieso and shared by Yau.]
I found the graphic on “if the world lived in a single city” to be nicely done. You can see it at: http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/27/if-the-world-lived-in-a-single-city/
I like the quality of the maps, the colors chosen, and the grid-like design of the entire chart. However, I was wondering about the order. It looks like it is designed to be read down the first column and then down the second column, but I read it across each row, so I think I initially missed some of the trends being shown.
Working in public health, the DooDoo video of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations’s new project on reinventing the toilet really captured my attention. The creator used information that is not pleasant (human waste polluting the earth causing disease)and found a visually creative way to tie the numbers to the need and reason for the project.
DooDoo http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fdwvuTrycYU
I looked at many of the posts at Flowing Data, but my favorite was: http://flowingdata.com/2010/10/19/animated-graphic-on-why-you-should-shut-off-your-work-computer/
The graphics really enhance the story (or data) and help deliever a clear message.
This is one of my favorite recent data visualizations: http://moki.tv/blog/visual-evidence-movies-are-getting-worse#_graph
The data is taken from a large movie database and plotted based on the ratings, box office earnings, polarization of reviews and release year. It’s a really fun graph to play with and there are some great filter options to see just postively rated movies, certain movie series, movies by a specific director or academy award winners.
If you’ve never seen Hans Rosling explain complex data in his amazing simple visual manner, check out this link at TED talks: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html
I think his successful is two-fold: 1, Mr. Rosling uses the data to tell a story – he doesn’t expect the data to “speak for itself” – which I think sometimes we expect these days. He reminds us that the STORY is the important part and the data is the tool.
2, His use of “movement” in his visual graphs is captivating. We aren’t trying to visual changes looking at 15 different images, but rather he capitalizes on technology that allows for data to visually change over time.
This is an example of data visualization from Juice Analytics. When possible, interactive graphs (such as the treemap of airline and airport traffic and delays) are helpful are helpful for reducing “chart junk” and allowing viewers to select the information that interests them the most.
I like this graph because it immediately raises the question as to whether grade inflation is at play or whether students are smarter now than they were in the past. This would be a great teaching tool for an Intro Stats course. The dedicated web site, http://www.gradeinflation.com/, shows more representations of the data and provides evidence that grades have increased at the same time that student engagement, literacy levels (I would say both math and English) and study skills have decreased.
I teach an introduction to data analysis class at a small university and am always looking for ways to launch the correlation/causation discussion. Since most of my students use cell phones this is one I think they will relate too well. http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/18/cell-phones-and-cancer/
I’m a big fan of Robert Abelson’s “Statistics as Principled Argument,” in which he asserted that the interestingness of research should be roughly equivalent to its potential to surprise us. On this criterion, I nominate the following data visualization for your attention:
http://flowingdata.com/2011/07/27/if-the-world-lived-in-a-single-city/
Information Aesthetics is pretty interesting. On this weblog you can find examples of creative designs that help to visualize information. Very often I am amazed by how creative people are in presenting their data.
Since it’s Sunday and some of you use this day off to workout check the map showing the aggregated view of over 1,000 runs that were tracked by Nike+ between September and December of 2010 in the vicinity of NYC (http://infosthetics.com/archives/2011/06/visualizing_1000_nike_runs_in_new_york_city.html).
After running there is time for shower so check this shower calendar that encourage people to reduce their water consumption by informing them of their water usage while showering.
http://infosthetics.com/archives/2011/05/shower_calendar_visualizing_water_usage_in_the_shower.html.
I love almost everything I see at “Information is Beautiful.” My background is in research astronomy and astronomy education programs, so I particularly like this one: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/horoscoped/. It maintains the orderly appeal of the Zodiac/horoscope system, so that a horoscope fan wouldn’t be turned off right away, while the word clouds have a simple, straightforward message.