Interactive Data Visualisation for Researchers

Workshop presentation given to Early Career Researchers and Doctoral Students as part of NARTI (Northern Advanced Research Training Initiative) at Northumbria Business School, Newcastle, UK in January 2018.

Part of a 1-day workshop on Positioning Your Research for Impact and Interactive Data Visualisation - see https://lubswww.leeds.ac.uk/narti/events/article/positioning-your-research-for-impact-and-interactive-data-visualisation-registration-closed/

The aim was to provide participants with an overview of current trends with respect to interactive data visualisation and to provide participants with an opportunity to develop an interactive data visualisation plan for their own research

Transcript

1. Interactive Data
   Visualisation
   David Kelly
   Digital Humanities Manager, Moore Institute
   National University of Ireland, Galway
   

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2. https://medium.com/@kennelliott/39-studies-about-
   human-perception-in-30-minutes-4728f9e31a73
   “Everything we know about how humans interpret graphics” -
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0J6EDvlN30, Kennedy Elliot
   

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3. Explorable Explanations
   

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4. Explorable Explanations
   An active reader asks questions, considers alternatives,
   questions assumptions, and even questions the
   trustworthiness of the author. An active reader tries to
   generalize specific examples, and devise specific examples
   for generalities. An active reader doesn't passively sponge up
   information, but uses the author's argument as a
   springboard for critical thought and deep understanding.
   Bret Victor, March 10, 2011: http://worrydream.com/ExplorableExplanations/
   

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5. Why?
   

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6. New Perspectives
   

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7. Cultural Networks
   Data from interviews with
   cultural practitioners:
   • Demographic
   • Funding
   • Relationship types
   • Geographic data
   Dr. Patrick Collins – Geography @ NUI Galway
   

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9. Dr Mark Stansbury – Classics @ NUI Galway
   

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11. Data Exploration
    

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12. https://www.axios.com/the-flow-of-goods-between-states-1513304375-5d9d9ddc-b0fe-4d0d-a556-dab4279acbe0.html
    

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13. Dr Patrick Collins & Dr Aisling Murtagh – Geography @ NUI Galway
    

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14. Impact & Engagement
    

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15. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/upshot/presidential-polls-forecast.html
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-
    interactive/2017/sep/18/what-is-the-average-debt-
    where-you-live
    

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16. GalwayDashboard.ie
    Economic Baseline Assessment for
    Galway City & County
    Prof. James Cunningham, Galway City Council, Galway County Council
    

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17. Complexity &
    non-expert users
    

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18. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/upshot/presidential-polls-forecast.html
    

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19. http://projects.propublica.org/louisiana/
    

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20. The Guardian, Feb 2015
    

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21. How?
    

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22. • Do it yourself
    • Collaborate with cross sector or
    cross departmental professionals
    • Seek the help of IT professionals
    • Provide the data to others for them to
    produce the visualisation.
    Gatto, M. (2015), “Making Research Useful: Current Challenges and Good Practices
    in Data Visualisation”
    http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/visualisation-academic-research
    

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23. Consider
    

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24. Consider*
    Labels,
    Annotation &
    Supporting Text
    Colour
    Context
    Interaction
    Design
    Suitability of vis. choice
    to data
    Where & how
    will it be engaged with?
    Fonts
    Layout /
    Interface Design
    Audience(s)
    Accessibility
    

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25. Paper
    

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26. http://datasketch.es
    

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29. A Process
    

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30. https://design-worksheets.github.io/
    

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31. https://design-worksheets.github.io/
    

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32. Your Audience(s)?
    

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33. DANGER
    

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34. From: http://viz.wtf/
    

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35. https://flowingdata.com/2017/02/09/how-to-spot-visualization-lies/
    

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37. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/trump-charts/
    

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38. https://venngage.com/blog/misleading-graphs/
    

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40. From: http://de.slideshare.net/vis4/making-data-visualizations-a-survival-guide
    

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41. https://flowingdata.com/2017/02/09/how-to-spot-visualization-lies/
    

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42. https://flowingdata.com/2009/11/26/fox-news-makes-the-best-pie-chart-ever/
    

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43. From: http://viz.wtf/
    

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44. https://flowingdata.com/2017/02/09/how-to-spot-visualization-lies/
    

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45. Useful Tools
    Mostly web-based, free option, little/no
    programming
    

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46. http://chartmaker.visualisingdata.com
    

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47. à CSV
    Import.io
    Option for non-profit /
    student use
    Code-based:
    Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    

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48. Code-based:
    Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    A free, open source, powerful tool
    for working with messy data
    openrefine.org
    

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49. • Limited free plans
    available
    Code-based:
    • Map design
    • Data storage
    • Embed maps
    Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    carto.com
    mapbox.com
    

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50. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    Omeka Plugin
    storymap.knightlab.com
    

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51. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    

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52. Code-based:
    Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    http://datamatic.io
    www.datawrapper.de
    

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53. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    https://timeline.knightlab.com
    Uses a Google Spreadsheet as
    a data source
    https://juxtapose.knightlab.com/
    

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54. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    https://juxtapose.knightlab.com
    

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55. Code-based:
    Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    http://palladio.designhumanities.org/
    gephi.org
    http://hdlab.stanford.edu/
    

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56. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    public.tableau.com/s/
    Also offer free academic licenses for Tableau Desktop for students &
    teachers
    

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57. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    http://www.metabase.com/
    

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58. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    • Colour Choices (Maps) - http://colorbrewer2.org
    • ProPublica's Nerd Guides - https://github.com/propublica/guides
    • UK Government Service Design Manual -
    https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/user-centred-design/data-
    visualisation.html
    • Data Viz Style Guide Collection: http://policyviz.com/style-
    guides/
    • ai2html - an open-source script for Adobe Illustrator that
    converts your Illustrator documents into html and css (NY Times)
    

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59. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    “Easily manage all your research
    outputs and make them available
    in a citable, shareable and
    discoverable manner”
    http://www.nature.com/sdata/policies/repositories
    

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60. Data Gathering,
    Cleaning &
    Preparation
    Mapping
    Charting
    Data Management
    Design
    Visualisation
    …gives you the digital analytics tools you need to
    analyze data from all touchpoints in one place
    

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61. http://www.clean-sheet.org/
    

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62. Emerging Areas
    

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63. Thank you
    David Kelly
    david.d.kelly@nuigalway.ie
    

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64. • “The list of 2017 visualization lists”: http://www.maartenlambrechts.com/2017/12/28/the-list-of-2017-
    visualization-lists.html
    • The Data Visualisation Catalogue: https://datavizcatalogue.com/
    • Seeing Data: http://seeingdata.org
    • Gatto, M. (2015), “Making Research Useful: Current Challenges and Good Practices in Data Visualisation” -
    http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/our-research/visualisation-academic-research
    Books
    • “The Visual Display of Quantitative Data” (2001) by Edward Tufte
    • “The Functional Art: An introduction to information graphics and visualization“ (2012), Alberto Cairo
    • “Visualising Data” (2016) by Andy Kirk
    Useful Resources
    

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