DATA ANALYTICS UNIT SESSION IA short Introduction to Data Visualization and Infographics

TEDTalk:

David McCandlesshttp://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization?language=en#t-164522

Infographics vs. Data Visualization

● INFOGRAPHIC: An Infographic is a graphical representation or visualization of information or data, designed to present, analyse or explore.o More focus on design and communication.

● DATA VISUALIZATION: Tools and methods for visual representation and description of data, statistics, and analysis.o More focus on statistical analysis.

“THERE IS MAGIC IN GRAPHS.”

-Henry D. Hubbard

https://designinspirationhub.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/25-chart-graph-designs-for-inspiration/

Why are data visualizations and infographics important?

● Communicating Results and

Information

● Exploratory Data Analysis

http://neomam.com/interactive/13reasons/

http://magazine.good.is/infographics

http://www.designlessbetter.com/blogless/tags/infographics

http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2013/3/5/pairing-wine-food.html

Examples of Infographics:

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/mar/07/infographics-for-children-can-learn-from-data-visualisations

Examples of Infographics:

Creating Infographics:A step by step guide

1. Understand Goal and Audience

2. Obtain and Organize Data

3. Create Story/ Narrative

4. Visualize Data and make it Eye Catching

Creating Infographics

● The “10-foot-test”○ Put an infographic on a 11”x8.5” piece of paper and step 10 feet

away. Do you know what the infographic is saying?

● Proper Usage of Color○ Use “only those components in a chart that actually represent

values and items.” (i.e. not the axes)

● Meaning to Audience○ “If you can provide context and meaning to your data visualizations,

your audience will be more willing to listen”

○ Don’t simply show people with no math background an infographic – explain it to them!

Data Visualization

Charting the Beatles: “What did the band’s calendar look like during Beatlemania?”http://chartingthebeatles.com/#schedule

Transforming DataBefore: After:

A Mosaic Plot!

Applications of Data Science:Journalism

The New York Times: “512 Paths to the White House”

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/02/us/politics/paths-to-the-white-house.ht`ml

Medicine “Heart Disease in the United States - Map”

http://www.cardiologist.org/heart-disease-in-the-united-states-map/

Meteorology “Surveying the Destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy”

http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2012/1120-sandy/survey-of-the-flooding-in-new-york-after-the-hurricane.html

“Mapping the Microbes of the New York City Subway”

www.wired.com/2015/02/mapping-microbes-new-york-city-subway/

Epidemiology

History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Joseph_Minard

Charles Joseph Minard: Napoleon’s March to Moscow in 1812

Creating Data Visualizations

● Maximize information shown (data-ink ratio)

● Always include axes and units when applicable

● Avoid unnecessary graph “decorations”

● Represent data in an accurate and truthful way

Not All Visualizations Are Created Equal

???

Not All Visualizations Are Created Equal

From “Media Matters”http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/01/a-history-of-dishonest-fox-charts/190225

(Cont’d)

Not All InfographicsAre Created Equal,Either

From XKCDhttps://xkcd.com/1273/

Resource Demo

● https://www.canva.com/

❏ https://infogr.am/ ❏ R

Your turn to make a visualization!

Questions?

Links A history of dishonest FOX charts: http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/01/a-history-of-dishonest-fox-charts/190225

Element of Visualization: http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/periodic_table.html

Download R: http://www.r-project.org/

Canva https://www.canva.com/ Inforgr.am https://infogr.am/app/#/home