Reference no: EM133147807 , Length: word count:800

ITECH3101 Business Analytics and Decision Support - Federation University

Exercise - Exploring complex data visualization

In this week's projects, we mainly discuss how to visualize complex data. Here visualizing complex data indicates that visualization cannot be achieved through directly using existing fields from raw data source because these fields don't exist in raw data source. Instead, for visualizing complex data, we need to take simple computation on the existing fields and to combine the existing fields in order to make new dimensions or measures that don't exist in raw data source. In particular, we visualize complex data by creating calculated fields and using parameter controls, etc. Before introducing detailed techniques for visualizing complex data, we briefly discuss basic approaches that can be used to process complex data.

Two basic approaches to process complex data
Basic approaches for processing complex data is to create calculations for improving and enhancing your data. We mainly discuss two approaches to enhance data: calculated fields and parameter controls. These approaches can be used to derive fact and dimensions that don't exist in your source data and these newly derived measures and dimensions can be used in an interaction design in dashboard and worksheet.

Calculated fields
Creating a calculated field refers to add new fields into Tableau workbook where these fields don't exist in raw data source. Calculated fields can be used to generate numbers, dates and strings, etc. In particular, calculated fields can be used to compare the relationship among fields such as ratio and percentages, etc., answer interaction questions and design effective interaction.

Parameter controls
Parameters refer to variables that enable users to change the content that appears in worksheets and dashboards. With properly using parameter and parameter controls, the context of views can be changed dynamically. For example, parameters can be used to quickly toggle between views with different variables and thus they provide an effective way to control what facts and dimension are displayed based on visual designer's intention.

Project 1: Creating calculated fields to display population density of a district

Task: The given dataset provides information about population and area in a city. The goal of this task is to create calculated field for displaying population density of a district.

1. Download Dataset: simple-data-bogoughs.xlsx from Week 4 in Moodle

Step 1. Load the data into Tableau and check that your data has been loaded correctly.. Step 2. Create a calculated field.
Step 3. Create a filled map to display population density. Step 4 Edit location
Step 5 Add label to map

Step 1. Load the data into Tableau and check that your data has been loaded correctly.

Step 2. Create a calculated field.

Population density can be expressed as formula of population being divided by area. Right click any location in Dimensions or Measures area and select Create Calculated Field.

Then input density formula as following. After clicking OK button, a new field of Population Density you just created appears in the Measures area.

Step 3. Create a filled map to display population density.

Select County, hold down the Control key and then select Population Density and select filled map in Show Me card

Step 4. Edit location

In the lower-right area of the map, there is a gray text (5 unknown). This indicates that five geographic records are unrecognized in dataset. So we need to change location from Australia to United States.

Clicking the gray text to open a menu

Click Edit Location and change location

Step 5. Add label to map

Drag County to Label in the Marks card.

Question

Based on the above filled map, which county has the highest population density? Why?

Project 2: Use parameter controls

Task: The given dataset provides information about premier league games such as teams, played, won, d, and points, etc. The goal of this task is to create a slopegraph and to allow you to be familiar with using parameter controls for visualising complex data.
To complete this task, complete the following steps: Step 1. Load the data into Tableau
Step 2. Create a parameter
Step 3. Create a calculated field Step 4. Create a slopegraph

Step 5. Change line thickness Step 6. Create a dashboard

Download Dataset: club-game-data.xlsx from Week 4 in Moodle

Step 1. Load the data into Tableau

Check that your data has been loaded correctly.

Step 2. Create a parameter

The parameter created here will allow users to select which stat to chart. Right click any location in Dimensions and Measures area and select Create Parameter.

Then type parameter in the dialog box.

After clicking OK button, you would see that the parameter Select you just created appears at the bottom left. Clicking the parameter allows you to change the value of parameter.

Step 3. Create a calculated field

In order to connect to different team stats according to users' selection, we need to create a calculated field for linking the parameter. In other words, this newly created calculated field will match the parameter of users' input so that the visualization will dynamically reflect users' choices.

Right click any location near Parameter area, select Create Calculated Field and fill out the box. After clicking OK button, you see that Selected appears in Measures area.

Step 4. Create a slopegraph

We now use newly created calculated field to create slopegraph.

Drag Year to Columns shelf, right click Year in Columns shelf to select Discrete. This will change Year from continuous data type (green color) to discrete data type (blue color).

Drag Selected you just created to Rows shelf, navigate to Marks card area and change Marks type from Automatic to Line.

Drag Club to Detail in Marks area and resize the view, and then drag another Club from Dimensions to Label in Marks area.

In Marks area, click the Label and untick Allow label to overlap other marks and select
Line ends

Step 5. Changing line thickness

To change line thickness, we create two calculated field.

Create a calculated field Delta and a calculated filed Magnitude.

Drag Magnitude to Size and drag Selected to Label in Marks area

Step 6 create a dashboard

Click Dashboard on the top tool bar, drag Sheet 1 from the left pane to the centre and change dashboard title.

Project 3: Explore different color coding schemes

Purpose: To visualise data by using different colour encoding schemes.
Task: The given dataset provides information about product sales, product price, profit, product category and customers for a superstore. The goal of this task is to visualise the data by selecting proper colour encoding schemes.
1. Download data set: product-sales-customer.xlsx from Week 4 in Moodle Follow the steps below in Tableau:
• Step 1. Load the data into Tableau and check your data has been loaded correctly.
• Step 2. Create a bar chart.
• Step 3. Add color to the bar chart.
• Step 4. Create customized colors for individual marks.
• Step 5. Compare your bar chart with a pie chart.

Step 1. Load the data into Tableau and check your data has been loaded correctly.

Step 2. Create a bar chart
Drag Product Sub-Category to Rows shelf, then drag Sales to Columns shelf, then sort the bars in descending order.

Step 3. Add color to the bar chart

Drag Product Sub-Category to the Color shelf and drag Sales to Label shelf.

Step 4. Create customized colors for individual marks.

Click Color button, and click Edit Colors to select required color.

Step 5. Compare the bar chart with the pie chart

Click on the pie chart in the Show Me panel, and drag the Sales to the Label shelf.

Discussion: Are colors and charts used effectively?

Task: What do you think about the visualization shown below? If the visualization is poor, give your reasons and provide ideas for how to improve it. Go to the Are colors and charts used effectively? discussion forum.

When participating in the discussion, please focus on the following questions:

1. Are colors used effectively?
2. Does this visualization encourage any misperceptions?
3. How could this visualization be improved? Offer specific suggestions.

Project 4: Visualizing spatial data

Purpose: To become familiar with a map as an effective approach for visualizing spatial data.

Task: The given dataset provides information about population, spatial data and the districts in a city. The goal of this task is to explore the spatial data and visualize the spatial data as a map by using two positional encodings: latitude and longitude. We also use different color coding schemes in visualizing spatial data.

1. Download Dataset: borough-population-area.xlsx from Week 4 in Moodle

Step 1. Load the data into Tableau and check your data has been loaded correctly. Step 2. Create a map.
Step 3. Edit location data.
Step 4. Add population information to the map.
Step 5. Add color encoding to show population density on the map.

Step 1. Load the data into Tableau and check your data has been loaded correctly.

Step 2. Create a map

Double-click on the geographic data field 'State' and double-click on geographic data field 'County' to show background map. There is a grey text (in the lower-right area of the map) that includes words (5 unknown). This indicates that five geographic records are unrecognized in the dataset. Thus, we need to deal with the unknown records.

Step 3a. Edit location data

Click the grey text to edit location data.

Step 3b. Change County location.

Change County/region from Australia to United States.

Step 4. Add population information to the map

Drag Population from the 'Measures' shelf to 'Size' shelf.

Step 5. Add color encoding to show population density to map

Create a new calculated field to show population density. Right-click anywhere in the 'Dimensions' or 'Measures' area and select 'Create Calculated field'.

Drag the 'Population Density' field to 'Color' shelf.

Change color to green.

Project 5. Answering questions (Please do this at your home by using your own computer)

1. List and describe the three major categories of business reports.

Project 6. Creating a Professional Report

Summarize the above experiments procedure, results, answering questions and screenshots (project 1, 2, 3, 4,5) into one report. Your report is the assignment that is

required to be submitted for evaluation on week 9. Create a report by following below steps.

You can add a chapter called Chapter 4 in your previous report.

1. Open your last week's report and find the end of last week's report.
2. Copy this week's related experimental results, your findings and Screenshots, and paste them at the end of last week's report.
3. Delete original Table of Content you created.
4. Select all content , align all text to both left and right margin
5. Use shortcut key approach, generate Chapter 4: Exploring complex data visualization
6. Then use shortcut key approach to generate proper sub-chapters for this week's lab work.
7. Insert Table of Contents to your report.

Attachment:- Exploring complex data visualization.rar