teaching students to lie, manipulate, and mislead with information visualizations
DESCRIPTION
We’ve been creating and managing data for centuries, and the recent improvements in technology make more data readily available to more people. This wealth of data can help us make better decisions, understand complex phenomena, and communicate effectively, but only when used appropriately. Visualization is one of the best ways to tell stories from data, but visualizations can also mislead and confuse. In this presentation, I’ll introduce a few exercises you can use with your students to help them learn to design effective information visualizations. We will use real-world data and a variety of software tools to create visualizations that inform, persuade, and illuminate.TRANSCRIPT
TEACHING STUDENTS TO LIE, MISLEAD, AND MANIPULATE WITH INFORMATION VISUALIZATION
Libby Hemphill, PhD
Illinois Institute of Technology
ASSUMING …
Data literacy is important so that we can
• Tell compelling stories that others are more likely to repeat, remember, and act on
• Determine when someone else is trying to mislead using visualizations
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/graph-36-how-many-charts-there-are-right-here
INFORMING, PERSUADING, AND ILLUMINATING
BUILDING A VISUALIZATION
1. Determine the story you want to tell or question you want to answer
2. Find or collect the data you need
3. Sketch your design
4. Annotate your sketch
5. Construct your visualization
BUILDING A VISUALIZATION
1. Determine the story you want to tell or question you want to answer
2. Find or collect the data you need
3. Sketch your design
4. Annotate your sketch
5. Construct your visualization
LYING, MISLEADING, AND MANIPULATING
TRUNCATED AXES
TRUNCATED AXES
DECEPTIVE DIMENSIONSCIRCUMFERENCE AREA
http://www.vox.com/2014/8/20/6040435/als-ice-bucket-challenge-and-why-we-give-to-charity-donate
HARD TO READ FORMATS
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/08/12/apple-diversity-white-asian-male/13951329/http://www.storytellingwithdata.com/2014/08/design-with-audience-in-mind.html
SPURIOUS RELATIONSHIPS
http://www.tylervigen.com/
SPECIOUS MEASURES
YOUR TURN …
http://www.visualisingdata.com/index.php/2014/04/the-fine-line-between-confusion-and-deception/
PRACTICE
KEYS TO GOOD VISUALS
COMPUTER SCIENCE DEGREE CONFERRALS
EXERCISE ONE
RAW DATA
http://bit.ly/hemphill_wpi_data
DATA HERO
http://www.datahero.com
DIVERSITY IN TECH COMPANIES
EXERCISE TWO
RAW DATA
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/08/12/apple-diversity-white-asian-male/13951329/
EXCEL
TWEETS OVER TIME
EXERCISE THREE
TABLEAU
THANK YOUContact Info:
@libbyh
http://libbyh.com
Resource List:
http://bit.ly/hemphill_wpi_notes
Slides:
http://slideshare.net/libbyh
SUPPLEMENTAL SLIDES
MORE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
CAPTION THIS …
http://flowingdata.com/2014/07/02/jobs-charted-by-state-and-salary/
TELL A STORY ABOUT WORDS …
https://books.google.com/ngrams
CHECK YOUR ASSUMPTIONS…
https://apps.facebook.com/namegenweb/
MORE EXAMPLES OF GOOD VISUALIZATIONS
HIERARCHIES
http://newsmap.jp
TIME
http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager
NETWORKS
TIME
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/31/business/20080801-metrics-graphic.html?_r=0
NETWORKS
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/02/weekinreview/02marsh.html