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Data Visualization

Chapter 1. Fundamentals of Graphical Practice

Iñaki Úcar

Department of Statistics | uc3m-Santander Big Data Institute

Master in Computational Social Science

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0 Last generated: 2023-09-27

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Principles of Graphical Representation

Some Useful General Guidelines

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Attitude

There are three basic questions that is very useful to keep asking yourself over and over again as you are designing new visual representations:

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Attitude

There are three basic questions that is very useful to keep asking yourself over and over again as you are designing new visual representations:

  • What is it for?
    • What is the problem that I am trying to solve?
    • What questions do I want my reader/user to be able to answer looking at this?
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Attitude

There are three basic questions that is very useful to keep asking yourself over and over again as you are designing new visual representations:

  • What is it for?
    • What is the problem that I am trying to solve?
    • What questions do I want my reader/user to be able to answer looking at this?
  • What can I see here?
    • What information can I extract out of this representation?
    • How much effort is it needed to extract such information?
    • How much confidence do I have in this information?
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Attitude

There are three basic questions that is very useful to keep asking yourself over and over again as you are designing new visual representations:

  • What is it for?
    • What is the problem that I am trying to solve?
    • What questions do I want my reader/user to be able to answer looking at this?
  • What can I see here?
    • What information can I extract out of this representation?
    • How much effort is it needed to extract such information?
    • How much confidence do I have in this information?
  • How can I improve it?
    • Being able to think about alternate solutions is
      the most important skill
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Chart Rethinking: Exercise 9

Source: The Functional Art, by Alberto Cairo

  • What is it for?
  • What can I see here?
  • How can I improve it?

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General Guidelines

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General Guidelines

  • Do not over-aggregate data
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General Guidelines

  • Do not over-aggregate data

  • Unit-based visualizations

    • Every data item is represented by a single graphical mark
    • Every data attribute is represented by a single channel
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General Guidelines

  • Do not over-aggregate data

  • Unit-based visualizations

    • Every data item is represented by a single graphical mark
    • Every data attribute is represented by a single channel

  • Tufte's high-information graphics

    • "Data-rich designs give context and credibility to statistical evidence"
    • "High-density graphics help us compare parts of the data by displaying much information within the view of the eye"
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General Guidelines

  • Do not over-aggregate data

  • Unit-based visualizations

    • Every data item is represented by a single graphical mark
    • Every data attribute is represented by a single channel

  • Tufte's high-information graphics

    • "Data-rich designs give context and credibility to statistical evidence"
    • "High-density graphics help us compare parts of the data by displaying much information within the view of the eye"
  • Keep a critical attitude
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