The Do’s and Don’ts of Data
Visualization
Meghal Parikh and Sandra Archer
University of Central Florida
University Analysis and Planning Support
Southern Association of Institutional Research
Atlanta, GA
How to NOT present your data….
•
Example 1 – Showing off improvement in your work
Kent Wells, the senior vice president of BP, in a technical briefing video on BP’s website, shows how their group is continually improving and increasing their performance in oil collection efforts in the seas.
What’s wrong? – The chart is cumulative number of barrels of oil collected by date
Blogger Stephen Frew (www.perceptualedge.com) shows how BP’s increasing bars does not mean improving performance.
Oct. 10, 2011 The Do's and Don'ts of Data Visualization 3 He plotted the same data by daily oil collection rate; the story is much different than shown by Kent in the video.
How to NOT present your data….
•
Example 2: Perceived
versus Actual substance use
at U. of California, Santa
Barbara
The problem here does not need much explanation.
Clearly, 0.7% column cannot be half as tall as 29.4% column because at least mathematically 0.7 is not half of 29.4
Below is the geometrically improved version of this charting disaster
And a better way of explaining the same data
Oct. 10, 2011 The Do's and Don'ts of Data Visualization 5
Source: Oops, but how to best present these data: A blog by Alex Kerin (http://www.datadrivenconsulting.com)
How to NOT present your data….
•
Example 3: FOX news Chicago makes a GOP candidate support
pie chart
No explanations needed for the problem here
63 + 70 + 60 ≠ 100
Source: All 193% of Republicans Support Palin, Romney and Huckabee (http://wonkette.com)
Lessons Learned
Data Visualizations are simplified representations of a complex reality
used to influence others. We are not here to convince the decision-makers. Institutional researchers are here to guide decision-makers to better, data-driven decisions.
GEOMETRY MATTERS; same scale, same diameter, correct Y-axes etc.
LEAVE SPECIAL EFFECTS, PRETTY COLORS & 3-D GRAPHICS to
HOLLYWOOD.
3D looks cool but doesn’t change the perspective of the decision maker.
USE TWO-DIMENSIONAL CHARTS.
Find the message you want to show from the data.
Consider your audience. Important note: 1 of 10 men are color blind
Prepare your data.
Look at data in a different way
• Example : Trend data for Baccalaureate Degrees Awarded in the State of
Florida
– Story to tell: Growth of UCF in terms of Baccalaureate degree production is much higher than the rest of state
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000 19 95-96 19 96-97 19 97-98 19 98 -99 19 99-00 20 00-01 20 01-02 20 02-03 20 03-04 20 04-05 20 05-06 20 06-07 20 07-08 20 08 -09 20 09-10
Number of Baccalaureate Degrees Awarded
Growth in Baccalaureate Degrees Awarded in Florida
Look at data in a different way
Oct. 10, 2011 The Do's and Don'ts of Data Visualization 9
14,117 30,111 27,280 43,419 4,930 9,969 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000 1995-96 2009-10 83,499 46,327 UCF → Other SUS → Other →
First majors only. Other includes private, for-profit, and state colleges.
Growth in Baccalaureate Degrees Awarded in Florida
Look at data in a different way
Example 1: Comparing Retention Rates among different student segments
Story to tell: How first year retention rates for transfer students compared to freshmen?
Oct. 10, 2011 The Do's and Don'ts of Data Visualization 11 -1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000
(Enter UCF) Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh
FTIC Retention (Summer-Fall 2004 Entering Cohort)
Grad Enroll 100% 94.9% 92.2% 92.2% 91.1% 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000
First Second (Enter UCF) Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh
AA and AS Transfer Retention (Summer-Fall 2006 Entering Cohort)
Grad Enroll
74.4% 72.6% 71.7% 100%
79.6%
Source: UCF IR Retention Reports; Summer and Fall All Cohorts, FTIC and CCT with AA or AS
Look at data in a different way
Looking at first year retention rates did not provide an adequate comparison, since we are comparing Freshmen retention to Junior retention.
- Retention of FTICs from their third to fourth year is 94.9%, while retention of transfers from their first to second year is 79.6%.
- Not all transfers enter upon their third year of post-secondary
enrollment.
- The year labeling is used here for alignment only.
Contact Information
University Analysis and Planning Support University of Central Florida
12424 Research Pkwy, Ste 215 Orlando FL 32826-3207
Phone: (407) 882-0285
Dr. Sandra Archer – Director ([email protected])
Mr. Meghal Parikh – Analyst/Programmer ([email protected])
“The mission of the office of University Analysis and Planning Support (UAPS) is to enhance the
management capability within the University of Central Florida (UCF) by providing models and information to support and empower academic units, administrative units, and external stakeholders to utilize analysis and research results as the cornerstone for informed decision-making.”
