Data Vis for Journalists Fall 2016, Lab 2

There are many ways to describe data visually. The author of the visualization tries to convey a point of view by emphasizing some aspects of the data while toning down other aspects. The result can vary widely, from informative to confusing to misleading.

• Week 2 Demo 1 Back to the Future workbook
  • Download dataset (csv)
• Week 2 Demo 2 Arrests Premier League workbook
• Week 2 Demo 3 Market Share workbook

Downloads:

• Superstore workbook (Updated Sep 24)
• Connected scatterplot with annotations tutorial PDF (Unchanged Sep 24)
• Minimum Wage 2015 data CSV (Link added here Sep 24, data file itself unchanged)

• Both parts of this assignment are to be done in groups of two; you may choose partners yourselves.
• Work through the Superstore workbook using the sample dataset in Tableau.
  • Start with Tab 0 The Sprawl
  • Continue with Tab 1, Measure Values
  • Continue with Tab 2, Blending Axes
  • Finish with Tab 3, Dual Axes
• Do Connected Scatterplot assignment, following the instructions in the PDF file
  • Start a new Tableau workbook
  • Connect the Canadian housing price index US minimum wage data source to your workbook
  • Create the first view
  • Make the connected scatterplot
  • Put the views together into a dashboard
• Write a short reflection on how the different visual encodings that you constructed in this assignment and that you worked through in the demos emphasize and downplay different aspects of the underlying dataset (max 500 words). (Updated Sep 24!)
• Submit both completed workbooks, and also the reflection document in PDF format. Send by email to tmm AT cs.ubc.ca and caitlin AT discoursemedia.org by 9am Sept 27, with subject "JOURN Week 2".

• The Back To The Future, Arrests Premier League, and Market Share workbooks are courtesy of Ben Jones, with minor tweaks to the instructions to clarify ambiguities and update for Tableau 10. Ben is Director of Product Marketing for Tableau Public, author of Communicating Data with Tableau, and instructor at the University of Washington.
• The Superstore example is based on a Anne Steven's post Tableau Woes #1: Dual axes, Measure Values
• The New York Times connected scatterplot example was based on an exercise developed by Robert Kosara of Tableau Research from his talk Recreating News Visualizations in Tableau at the 2014 Tableau Customer Conference.