Directions

In this chapter we discussed why well-designed data graphics are important and we described a taxonomy for understanding their composition.

The objective of this assignment is for you to understand what characteristics you can use to develop a great data graphic.

Each question is worth 5 points.

To submit this homework you will create the document in Rstudio, using the knitr package (button included in Rstudio) and then submit the document to your Rpubs account. Once uploaded you will submit the link to that document on Canvas. Please make sure that this link is hyper linked and that I can see the visualization and the code required to create it.

Question #1

Answer the following questions for this graphic Relationship between ages and psychosocial maturity

  1. Identify the visual cues, coordinate system, and scale(s)

Visual cues: position and length to show where each start and end. There is a use of color to differentiate between menarche (green) and psychosocial maturation (pink).

Coordinate system: The graphic has a Cartesian coordinate system with age on the y-axis and time periods on the x-axis.

Scales: The horizontal axis is labeled with log evenly spaced tick marks for each period, and the vertical axis is labeled with tick marks at intervals of 10 years.

  1. How many variables are depicted in the graph? Explicitly link each variable to a visual cue that you listed above.

There are 4 different variables that are depicted in the graph. The variables are age, time, physiological maturation depicted in pink , and menarche in green.

  1. Critique this data graphic using the taxonomy described in the lecture.

Visual cues: The use of color, and bar lengths indicating different levels of maturity is effective in conveying the overall message of the graphic.

Coordinate system: The coordinate system is well-designed, with the horizontal axis representing periods and the vertical axis representing age. The use of evenly spaced tick marks on both axes makes it easy to read and interpret the data.

Scale: The scales on both axes are appropriate for the data being presented. The horizontal axis is labeled with evenly spaced tick marks for each period, and the vertical axis is labeled at intervals of 10.

Context: The graphic lacks important context that would make it more informative. A title and axis labels would provide important information about the purpose of the graphic and the units of measurement used. Additionally, information about the sample size and population being studied would help readers understand the limitations and generalizability of the findings.

Question #2

Answer the following questions for this graphic World’s top 10 best selling cigarette brands 2004-2007

  1. Identify the visual cues, coordinate system, and scale(s)

Visual cues: The graphic is a bar chart with rectangular bars. Each bar is labeled with the name of a cigarette brand and a numeric value indicating the number of cigarette sales in billions.

Coordinate system: The horizontal axis represents the cigarette sales volume in billions. The vertical axis represents the cigarette brands.

Scales: The horizontal axis is labeled with tick marks at intervals of 50 billion, ranging from 0 to 500 billion. The vertical axis is labeled with the names of the cigarette brands, with each brand having its own bar of variable length.

  1. How many variables are depicted in the graph? Explicitly link each variable to a visual cue that you listed above.

There are two variables depicted in the graph:

Cigarette brand: This is the categorical variable represented by the vertical axis. Each bar represents a different brand of cigarette.

Cigarette sales volume: This is the quantitative variable represented by the horizontal axis. The length of each bar represents the cigarette sales volume of the corresponding brand, with longer bars indicating higher sales volumes.

Cigarette brand: The names of the cigarette brands are labeled on the vertical axis, with each brand having its own rectangular bar of variable length.

Cigarette sales volume: The horizontal axis is used to represent the cigarette sales volume in billions, with evenly spaced tick marks indicating different sales volumes. The length of each rectangular bar represents the sales volume of the corresponding cigarette brand, making it easy to compare the sales volumes of different brands.

  1. Critique this data graphic using the taxonomy described in the lecture.

Visual cues: The graphic effectively uses visual cues to represent the two variables being depicted. The rectangular bars represent cigarette sales volumes, and the use of different colors or patterns on the bars could have made it easier to distinguish between the brands.

Coordinate system: The coordinate system is well-designed, with the horizontal axis representing cigarette sales volumes and the vertical axis representing the cigarette brands.

Scale: The scale on the vertical axis is appropriate, with each cigarette brand being represented by its own rectangular bar.

Context: The graphic includes additional context to make it more informative and valuable. A clear title, units of measurement for the sales volumes, and a description of the time period are depicted. Information about the source of the data and the population being studied would help readers understand the limitations and generalizability of the findings.

Question #3

Find two data graphics published in a newspaper on on the internet in the last two years.

  1. Identify a graphical display that you find compelling. What aspects of the display work well, and how do these relate to the principles that we have just gone over in lecture. Include a screenshot of the display along with your solution (Hint:use the following in a code chunk: knitr::include_graphics(“hometown.png”).
knitr::include_graphics("hometown.png")

“How Much Hotter Is Your Hometown Than When You Were Born?” This data graphic allows users to enter their birth year and hometown to see how much the average temperature in their hometown has changed over time. The display uses a heat map, with cooler colors representing cooler temperatures and warmer colors representing warmer temperatures. The display also includes a timeline at the bottom, allowing users to see the overall trend of temperature change over time.

One aspect of this display that works well is its interactivity. By allowing users to enter their own birth year and hometown, the display becomes more personalized and engaging. The use of a heat map also makes it easy to quickly see how much temperatures have changed, with warmer colors standing out against cooler colors.

The display also employs good design principles. The color scheme is easy to understand, with warm colors indicating higher temperatures and cool colors indicating lower temperatures. The timeline at the bottom provides context and helps users see the overall trend over time. The display is also visually appealing, with a clear layout and use of icons to represent different types of weather.

Overall, this data graphic is effective because it presents complex data in an engaging and accessible way. It makes use of interactivity and good design principles to help users understand how climate change has affected their hometown over time.

  1. Identify a graphical display that you find less compelling. What aspects of the display don’t work well? Are there ways that the display might be improved? Include a screenshot of the display along with your solution (Hint:use the following in a code chunk: knitr::include_graphics(“fpl.png”).
knitr::include_graphics("fpl.png")

The graphical display on the website is a table that shows the percentage of top 50 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers who have selected Double Gameweek (DGW) and Single Gameweek (SGW) players for Gameweeks (GW) 34-37.

One aspect of this display that doesn’t work well is that it is not visually appealing and can be difficult to read and interpret. The table is quite large, and the information is presented in a dense format that makes it challenging to identify the key insights or trends.

To improve this display, several changes could be made. First, it would be helpful to include a clear and concise title that describes what the table represents and provides context for the information. Second, the table could be reformatted to make it more visually appealing and easier to read. For example, the percentages could be represented as a bar chart or a stacked bar chart, which would allow readers to quickly see the proportion of DGW and SGW players selected by the top FPL managers. Third, the table could be broken down by individual teams or by position, which would provide more granularity and allow readers to see which teams or positions are more likely to have DGW or SGW players selected. Finally, the use of color or shading could help to highlight key insights and make the data more easily interpretable.

Question #4

Briefly (one paragraph) critique the designer’s choices. Would you have made different choices? Why or why not? Note: Link contains a collection of many data graphics, and I don’t expect (or want) you to write a full report on each individual graphic. But each collection shares some common stylistic elements. You should comment on a few things that you notice about the design of the collection.

What is a Data Scientist

Answer: “What is a Data Scientist” chart is relatively difficult to read and follow for different reasons: 1) Too much information is shared on the same page-> it could have been better to split and separate between different sub-topics 2) The choice of color could have been better. Using similar shades of blue makes it difficult to distinguish different graphs. Finally, some charts choices could have been better. If I were designing, I would consider using a more conventional layout, such as a tree diagram, to represent the various skills and technologies associated with data science.

Question #5

Briefly (one paragraph) critique the designer’s choices. Would you have made different choices? Why or why not? Note: Link contains a collection of many data graphics, and I don’t expect (or want) you to write a full report on each individual graphic. But each collection shares some common stylistic elements. You should comment on a few things that you notice about the design of the collection.

Charts that explain food in America

Answer: The collection of graphics in “Charts that explain food in America” employs consistent use of color, font, and chart type, which helps to create a cohesive visual narrative. However, some of the charts suffer from information overload, making it difficult to decipher the key takeaways. Overall, the designer’s choices have created a cohesive collection of graphics, attention has been given to simplifying and clarifying the information presented. With a little clearer labeling, more white space, and fewer categories, it would be even easier for readers to understand the data.