Reference no: EM131415282

This week's lab, you will be applying the standards of good visual data display to critique a pair of graphs that you locate on the World Wide Web, in the news, or elsewhere and that you might include in your paper.

A.) Locating Two Graphs - One from a scientific source, one from anywhere else

• Using the targeted search skills you have developed previously and one or more general or specialized academic search engines, locate two graphical data displays (i.e. charts, infographics, figures, etc.). One should be from a recognized peer-reviewed scientific publication (a journal article) the other should be from a non-peer-reviewed source such as a blog, newsfeed, popular press site, or other general sources.

• The theme of these graphs is up to you, though I would recommend seeking graphs that provide support for one or more claims in your research report or that help to establish some aspect of background or context.

• There are millions of graphics spread throughout online and offline publications, so finding examples should not be hard.

Nevertheless, you might consider one of the following strategies in order to locate unique graphics to use for your assignment:

o Try a search for (graph OR visual OR figure) plus some word or phrase describing an interest

EXAMPLE: (graph OR visual OR figure) poverty Thailand

o Try using Google Image Search and some combination of the above terms

o Try using Google Scholar, JSTOR, or another full-text search engine to find articles on your topic, and then search through those articles to locate a suitable graphic that you can evaluate

o Start by locating an article or news item that you recently read and look for accompanying figures

o Pick up a local or national newspaper and skim through it looking for data visualizations

o Head to the library and search through a journal or periodical that interests you for graphics

o There are many great graphics associated with many of the pages on our "other data sources" list

• Please note the following restriction. Graphs that have recently appeared on the following site(s) will not be counted for credit:

o Junk Charts (Keiser Fung) - https://junkcharts.typepad.com/junk_charts/ (Links to an external site.)

This site evaluates graphs and using a graphic from there would be too easy!

You should check out this site for tips and illustrations of how to do Part B of this week's lab, but then you should go off and find your own figures to actually evaluate

o Graphs that are evaluated in any lecture materials for this course are not useable

• Other guidelines and suggestions for your 2 graphs:

o Both graphs must be graphic data visualizations - please no tables or other non-graphic displays

o Most graphs/figures can be used, but your assignment will be easier if you observe the following:

Find an example of graph that is one of the types that we discussed in class or similar

Locate a graph or figure that resides on a site that is easily cited and locatable

The graph does not need to be a good graph, but it must be clear what it attempts to show

Graphs that already exist as image files and that are easily "right click" copy-able are best

If necessary, a screen shot (Links to an external site.) may be used to capture the graphic as it appears in the original

With the exception of "infographics," the graph should have some accompanying text that explains in a basic way why the graph was produced and what it's supposed to show

The graph should actually show data - do not try to complete this lab on an illustration!

• When you have found two interesting graphs/visuals/etc. your next step is to document

B.) How to Document your Graphs using the Google Drawings App

• Be sure that you are signed into Google Apps.

• Click on the red "NEW" button and select "Google Drawings"

• Copy and paste the first graph you selected directly onto the drawing canvas

• Make any adjustments necessary to ensure that the image is easily readable

o It may be necessary for you to scan some images (scanners are available at the UCI libraries)

o It may be necessary to use a simple graphics editing program to crop (Links to an external site.) some images

o It may be necessary to use a screen shot (Links to an external site.) tool to convert your image to an editable file format

o It may be necessary to rotate (Links to an external site.) your image so that it is upright and readable

o It may be necessary to resize (Links to an external site.) the image on the Google drawing canvas

• When finished, check to make sure that graph itself is:

o Oriented so the top faces up

o Readable - enlarge if necessary

o Viewable on a single screen - shrink, if necessary

o Not heavily pixelated (Links to an external site.) - shrink, if possible

o Failure to provide a decent-looking copy of the graphic may result in points lost

• Before going on, check to make certain that you also copy and paste any of the following "framing" information that may not be a part of the image itself (but is a part of the overall chart):

o The title for the graph if there was one in the original document

o Any footnotes or notes that explain parts of the graph

o Any separate legends or labels that help to explain what is in the graph

o This additional information can be copied and pasted directly into your Drawing

C.) How to Evaluate your Graphs using the Google Drawings App

• Choose Insert --> Comment and include a complete APA-style citation (Links to an external site.) for an image for the original source of this graph - NOTE: if you encounter the graph on some other site (e.g. Reddit, Facebook), you must trace the links back to whatever page looks to be the original source

o If you graph is from the web, a valid URL (or DOI) must be included

o If there is information missing, do your best to fill in these elements of the citation

• For example, if there's no date, use n.d.; If there's no author, use the title instead

• When finished, click the blue "COMMENT" button to save your citation as a comment

• Use the same procedure (steps 7 and 8) to insert a second comment that addresses the entire list of questions found in Section D (the next section)

• When done be sure to click the blue "Comment" button and check that both comments saved

o Double-check that you entered this email exactly as written (or you will not get credit)

• Repeat the steps in sections B and C for your second graph. Name the second graph HWID.graph.other.short.description

D.) Submitting the work for credit

• After sharing your two files with the course account (see red text just above), there is one more simple step to submit this work for credit.

• For your graph from a scientific source, copy the URL that is shown at the top of the page in your Browser's address window when viewing that graph and paste this into the Canvas submission point named ss3a.lab7.part.d.graph.scientific. This URL should end with the word "edit".

o EXAMPLE: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1tJrjE1FuqlQG1gxvG92mip_FLoj6mAwDdZxuQzZhKdQ/edit (Links to an external site.)

• For your graph from any other source, copy the URL that is shown at the top of the page in your Browser's address window when viewing that graph and paste this into the Canvas submission point named ss3a.lab7.part.d.graph.other. This URL should end with the word "edit".

• Notes:

o Do not use the "publish to the web" function as an alternative for sharing your drawing - we will not be able to view your critique in the comments unless we are viewing the editable file.

E.) What aspects of the graphs should I be commenting on?

General Information:

• Please refer to the class notes and slides on DataVis and Good Graphing for many helpful lists

• Chapter 15 of Booth, Colomb, and Williams (2008) is also a valuable source for ideas

• Don't forget to pay attention to the relationship between the figure and the accompanying text

List of Specific Questions to address in the second comment for each graph:

1. TYPE: How many different variables are present? Is this graph univariate? Bivariate? Multivariate?

2. VARIABLES: List all the variables that appear in your graph (or groups/dimensions if applicable)

3. LEVEL OF MEASUREMENT: Identify the proper level of measurement for each variable listed in the previous question (i.e. nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio). If you find this difficult, at a minimum, you should classify each variable present in each graph as qualitative or quantitative.

4. CONTEXT and FRAMING: How well does this graph provide some form of context for understanding the frequency, rarity, or commonness of the phenomena described? Context could be other data points, additional text, reference lines, or any other visual element that helps answer the question, "is this worth getting excited about?"

5. SELF-CONTAINED: Is the graph self-contained? Does it contain all information within it necessary for telling its story (examples: data labels, keys, axis labeled)?

6. SELF-SUFFICIENT: Does the graph pass Kaiser Fung's "self-sufficiency test" mentioned in lecture? That is, if there are data labels and axis labels, how much of the story is lost when they are covered up?

7. PURPOSE: Make your best guess about the purpose of this graph by completing the statement. I believe the person who created this graph would like a viewer to know that _________ after studying the graph.

8. CONS: list your 3 biggest criticisms of the graphic (rules and standards it breaks or bends) To generate a good list of cons, you should refer to both the general lists of do and don'ts for graphing and any special requirements or challenges that are described for the specific type of graph that you are critiquing.

9. PROS: list your 2 biggest compliments of the graphic (rules and standards it follows or gets right) To generate a good list of pros, refer to both the general lists of do and don'ts for graphing and any special requirements or challenges that are described for the specific type of graph that you are critiquing.

• NOTE: If there really are no obvious pros, list two more cons. And if you can't find 3 cons, add more pros. In either case, you should have 5 clearly identifiable comments on the graph in total, and they should be clearly identified as pros or cons by listing them under one or the other heading.

• FIXES: list at least 1 suggestion for how to improve or reformat this graph to improve its effectiveness

• SUMMARY: Write a one sentence summary assessment: I think that overall, this is an (EFFECTIVE GRAPHIC / POOR QUALITY GRAPHIC / SOMETHING ELSE) because

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