Difference between revisions of "Data Visualization"

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=== Data Visualization ===
 
 
 
Facilitated by Amanda Hickman - [https://github.com/amandabee github.com/amandabee]
 
Facilitated by Amanda Hickman - [https://github.com/amandabee github.com/amandabee]
 +
Syllabus, Cheat Sheets, etc. [http://amandabee.github.io/CUNY-data-skills/ amandabee.github.io/CUNY-data-skills]
  
Syllabus, Cheat Sheets, etc. [http://amandabee.github.io/CUNY-data-skills/ amandabee.github.io/CUNY-data-skills]
+
* Reasons to want data
 +
** Focus on a population
 +
** Evidence for a claim you're making is actually true
 +
** Reduce harm
 +
* When we're talking about data, we're talking about something in a spreadsheet that you can chop up and analyze and such
 +
** A PDF is not data yet, because it's basically a picture.
 +
*** Tabula from Nerd Powerful is a great tool for pulling data from PDF tables
 +
** Charts and maps are not data because you can't really reverse engineer them
 +
* Where to find it
 +
** Librarians. They live for this
 +
** Open data portals
 +
*** Open data is a set of laws that governments are required to put out public data
 +
** Ask for sources on reports and charts that you see
 +
*** If you see a great visualization, then you should call up the authors to try and get their data
 +
** Academics
 +
*** PhD's have great data that will never be seen because they're academics and thus write unintelligibly
 +
** SF Indicators Project
 +
** Census
 +
** American Community Survey
 +
** CensusReporter.org
 +
** Bureau of Labor Statistics
 +
** Community Expenditure Survey
 +
** Various public health departments
 +
** Think tanks
 +
** <span style="font: 14.0px 'Helvetica Neue'">Freedom of Information Act</span> (FOIA) / Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)
 +
*** Muck Rock will help you out on doing a FOIA request.
 +
**** Check out examples of letters they've sent, and their boiler plate letters
 +
**** They'll alert you about timeline stuff
 +
*** There may be costs involved
 +
*** This is kinda your last resort
 +
*** When making a request, ask for the person who's responsible, not just a receptionist. You need someone to hold accountable
 +
** Geo Commons
 +
*** Very open set of geographical data sets
 +
*** Great for polygons like districts
 +
** Planning Departments
 +
** Cicero
 +
*** Legislation
 +
** Sunlight Foundation
 +
* Strategies for getting data and analyzing
 +
** If someone tells you they don't have the data, that's not the end. They can help you find it.
 +
** Ask for the name of their database
 +
** Ask for the specs of the database they're using
 +
** Get a lawyer if they claim that giving you data is a threat to homeland security
 +
** Ask for possible costs up front
 +
** Ask StackExchange
 +
** NICAR
 +
* Working with Data
 +
** Provenance matters
 +
*** Especially if you're using open data from places like Geo Commons. You need to understand where the data came from
 +
** Not everything should be data
 +
* Tools
 +
** Hard
 +
*** R + RStudio
 +
*** QGIS
 +
** Medium
 +
*** [https://cartodb.com/ Carto DB]
 +
*** [http://www.highcharts.com/ High Charts]
 +
*** Mapbox
 +
*** D3
 +
** Easy
 +
*** [https://quartz.github.io/Chartbuilder/ Chart Builder]
 +
** Geo Coders
 +
*** Texas A&amp;M has a good tool
 +
*** [https://github.com/amandabee/CUNY-data-storytelling/wiki/Tip-Sheet:-Geocoding#promising-rumors Check her site]
  
#### Reasons to want data
+
[[Category:2015 Bakersfield]][[Category:Data]]
* Focus on a population
 
* Evidence for a claim you're making is actually true
 
* Reduce harm
 
#### When we're talking about data, we're talking about something in a spreadsheet that you can chop up and analyze and such
 
* A PDF is not data yet, because it's basically a picture.
 
** Tabula from Nerd Powerful is a great tool for pulling data from PDF tables
 
* Charts and maps are not data because you can't really reverse engineer them
 
#### Where to find it
 
* Librarians. They live for this
 
* Open data portals
 
** Open data is a set of laws that governments are required to put out public data
 
* Ask for sources on reports and charts that you see
 
** If you see a great visualization, then you should call up the authors to try and get their data
 
* Academics
 
** PhD's have great data that will never be seen because they're academics and thus write unintelligibly
 
* SF Indicators Project
 
* Census
 
* American Community Survey
 
* CensusReporter.org
 
* Bureau of Labor Statistics
 
* Community Expenditure Survey
 
* Various public health departments
 
* Think tanks
 
* <span style="font: 14.0px 'Helvetica Neue'">Freedom of Information Act</span> (FOIA) / Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)
 
** Muck Rock will help you out on doing a FOIA request.
 
*** Check out examples of letters they've sent, and their boiler plate letters
 
*** They'll alert you about timeline stuff
 
** There may be costs involved
 
** This is kinda your last resort
 
** When making a request, ask for the person who's responsible, not just a receptionist. You need someone to hold accountable
 
* Geo Commons
 
** Very open set of geographical data sets
 
** Great for polygons like districts
 
* Planning Departments
 
* Cicero
 
** Legislation
 
* Sunlight Foundation
 
#### Strategies for getting data and analyzing
 
* If someone tells you they don't have the data, that's not the end. They can help you find it.
 
* Ask for the name of their database
 
* Ask for the specs of the database they're using
 
* Get a lawyer if they claim that giving you data is a threat to homeland security
 
* Ask for possible costs up front
 
* Ask StackExchange
 
* NICAR
 
#### Working with Data
 
* Provenance matters
 
** Especially if you're using open data from places like Geo Commons. You need to understand where the data came from
 
* Not everything should be data
 
#### Tools
 
* Hard
 
** R + RStudio
 
** QGIS
 
* Medium
 
** [https://cartodb.com/ Carto DB]
 
** [http://www.highcharts.com/ High Charts]
 
** Mapbox
 
** D3
 
* Easy
 
** [https://quartz.github.io/Chartbuilder/ Chart Builder]
 
* Geo Coders
 
** Texas A&amp;M has a good tool
 
** [https://github.com/amandabee/CUNY-data-storytelling/wiki/Tip-Sheet:-Geocoding#promising-rumors Check her site]
 

Latest revision as of 21:17, 4 May 2016

Facilitated by Amanda Hickman - github.com/amandabee Syllabus, Cheat Sheets, etc. amandabee.github.io/CUNY-data-skills

  • Reasons to want data
    • Focus on a population
    • Evidence for a claim you're making is actually true
    • Reduce harm
  • When we're talking about data, we're talking about something in a spreadsheet that you can chop up and analyze and such
    • A PDF is not data yet, because it's basically a picture.
      • Tabula from Nerd Powerful is a great tool for pulling data from PDF tables
    • Charts and maps are not data because you can't really reverse engineer them
  • Where to find it
    • Librarians. They live for this
    • Open data portals
      • Open data is a set of laws that governments are required to put out public data
    • Ask for sources on reports and charts that you see
      • If you see a great visualization, then you should call up the authors to try and get their data
    • Academics
      • PhD's have great data that will never be seen because they're academics and thus write unintelligibly
    • SF Indicators Project
    • Census
    • American Community Survey
    • CensusReporter.org
    • Bureau of Labor Statistics
    • Community Expenditure Survey
    • Various public health departments
    • Think tanks
    • Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) / Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)
      • Muck Rock will help you out on doing a FOIA request.
        • Check out examples of letters they've sent, and their boiler plate letters
        • They'll alert you about timeline stuff
      • There may be costs involved
      • This is kinda your last resort
      • When making a request, ask for the person who's responsible, not just a receptionist. You need someone to hold accountable
    • Geo Commons
      • Very open set of geographical data sets
      • Great for polygons like districts
    • Planning Departments
    • Cicero
      • Legislation
    • Sunlight Foundation
  • Strategies for getting data and analyzing
    • If someone tells you they don't have the data, that's not the end. They can help you find it.
    • Ask for the name of their database
    • Ask for the specs of the database they're using
    • Get a lawyer if they claim that giving you data is a threat to homeland security
    • Ask for possible costs up front
    • Ask StackExchange
    • NICAR
  • Working with Data
    • Provenance matters
      • Especially if you're using open data from places like Geo Commons. You need to understand where the data came from
    • Not everything should be data
  • Tools