Part A
Download Data file: Students_Grad
The data file contains information on graduate students in an Applied Statistics program. A data dictionary is included in the Excel file. Assume you are a professional that is meeting with others in your department to discuss students in the program.
Your assignment in this module is to take the data file, analyze it, and create a visual that makes the “so-what?” stand out. You can analyze any one or some combination of the seven variables in the file (ID number does not need to be analyzed) to make a point of your choosing. This assignment is an opportunity to practice many aspects of effective data storytelling, including visual choice, color, and words. Let’s review what we’ve learned.
- Visual choicemeans representing the data visually to easily enable the “a-ha!” moment of understanding. When you analyze data, you already know what’s interesting. To someone seeing your work for the first time, choosing an effective visual—whether graph, table or text—means you’ve enabled them to see what you already know is interesting in the data.
- Color, when used sparingly, is one of your most strategic tools when it comes to the visual design of your data stories. Consider using color not to make a graph colorful, but rather as a visual cue to help direct your audience’s attention, signaling what is most important and indicating where to look.
- Wordsmake your data accessible. They’re the best way to indicate to your audience what you want them to understand in the data. There are some words that must be present in every visual: every graph and every axis needs a title (exceptions will be rare!). Don’t make your audience work or make assumptions to try to decipher what they are looking at. Beyond that, think about how you can use words to make the “so what?” of your visual clear through takeaway titles and annotations.
The Challenge
Use the data, analyze it and create a visual that makes the “so-what?” stand out. Submit by the due date below. No need to show the progression of the creation of your visual; you can simply share your final product. You have free range within the data – you pick the variable(s) to analyze and display. The data file is in “real-world” mode, meaning it’s incomplete, spotty, and needs a little cleaning up before your analysis.
Example Submission from a different data file (You cannot use this same visualization for your data!): One visual, appropriately labelled and titled, with a comment/summary about your main point.
A full submission includes a visualization like the one provided in the Example Submission.
Part B
There are a ton of tiny decisions that go into designing a graph. From the thickness of an axis line to the positioning of text, to the inclusion or omission of data markers and labels, each of these individual aspects unite to create our overall visualization. They can amalgamate to form a positive or lackluster experience for the viewer.
Frequently, our tool makes many of these calls: we give a graphing application some data and it turns around a graph. Our choice that follows is what to change (sometimes constrained by what can be changed) and what to allow to remain the same.
Let’s dissect a specific example, considering how we can make little changes to improve upon default output from a proprietary tool and create a more desirable experience for our audience. Examine the graph below, which shows the number of cars sold by dealership over time for a given region, then complete the following steps.
STEP 1: There are likely a number of changes you would like to make to this graph. To begin with, identify one single little change that you think would have positive impact on the design of this visual.
STEP 2: That may have been a difficult feat to limit your modifications to one, so here’s your chance to expand upon that: what are 3-5 more little changes you would make to improve this graph?
STEP 3: Download 5.2 EXERCISE file. Remake the visual applying the changes you’ve outlined (and any others you’d like to incorporate) in the tool of your choice.
STEP 4: Imagine you have been asked to create a single slide focusing on this data that will fit into a broader deck to be shared with the management team who oversees these dealerships. How would that affect what you show or how you choose to show it? Create this slide in your tool of choice, making assumptions freely for the purpose of the exercise.
A full submission includes: your commentary from Steps 1 and 2 and your completed slide.
