This document discusses using data visualization to help understand and communicate information more effectively. It provides examples of different types of visualizations including line graphs, histograms, maps, networks and word clouds. These visualization types can show temporal trends, geographic locations, relationships and topics. Elements like position, size, color, hue and saturation can be manipulated in visualizations. The document recommends several online resources for learning about and creating different types of data visualizations.

1. Visualisation
Help understand and communicate
Course on Participatory Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PPME)
20 March 2013, Mirjam Schaap @mirjamschaap

2. Our problem
 Dusty reports .....
 We want to show all
 not very effective ->
 help people understand & act
on our findings?
 tell stories that strengthen the
information you want to get
across
 use visuals in telling your story

4. Graphic by Paul Scruton

5. Source: the Guardian

6. Elements in data visualisations
When (temporal)
Where (geospatial)
What (topical)
With whom (network analysis)

7. WHEN
 Trends—e.g. fertility rate
 Patterns—e.g. seasonality in flu cases
 Correlations—e.g. safe drinking water – child mortality

8. example when – LINE GRAPHS
http://datamarket.com/data/set/15r6/fertility%E2%80%90rate%E2%80%90total%E2%80%90births%E2%80%90per%E2%80%90woman#!display=line&ds=15r6!hrt=1t.22.2g.45.4s.3d.m.5n

9. example when - HISTOGRAM
Based on: Katy Börner - ivMOOC

10. WHERE – map types
 General reference maps
 Topographic maps
 Thematic maps
● Physio‐geographical maps
● Socio‐economic maps

11. 1854
John Snow

12. Snows choleramap
 Water pumps
 Cholera deaths
-> visualising
helps analysis
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2013/mar/15/cholera-map-john-snow-recreated

13. Worldmapper.org

14. 1932

15. Henry Beck - 1933

16. Map types
Proportional symbol map
Chloropleth map
Based on: Katy Börner - ivMOOC

17. Map types
Heat maps
cartograms

18. Map types
 Flow maps

19. From: Dat Visualisation: a successful design process. Andy Kirk.
Image (left) republished from the freely licensed media file repository Wikimedia Commons, source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FrancePopulationDensity1968.png
Image (right) from "The Good and The Bad [2012]" (http://www.theusrus.de/blog/
the-good-the-bad-22012/) by Martin Theus

20. Graphic Variable Types Data Scale
Position: x, y, z axes
Form
• Size
• Shape
• Orientation
Color
• Value (lightness / shade)
• Hue (tint)
• Saturation (intensity)
Quantitative
Quantitative
qualitative
qualitative
Quantitative
qualitative
Quantitative
http://colorbrewer2.org
Based on: Katy Börner - ivMOOC

21. www.colorbrewer.org

22. WHAT
 wordclouds

23. WITH WHOM - networks
 visualisations
facebook

24. WITH WHOM – nodeXL network visualisation

25. Guardian datablog
production process
 Share data
 Spread sheets
 Perform calculations on data
 output

26. Nice websites
Visualisation
 https://drawingbynumbers.org/
 http://www.scimaps.org/
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog
 http://datamarket.com/
 http://vizthinker.com/
 http://www.dataviz.org/
 http://visual.ly/
 http://www.creativebloq.com/design-tools/data-
visualisation-712402
 http://www.tableausoftware.com/
Geographic Visualisations
 http://worldmapper.org
 http://www.gapminder.org/data
 http://spatialanalysis.co.uk/
Social Network Analysis
 http://gephi.org/
 http://nodexl.codeplex.com/
Free courses
 http://ivmooc.cns.iu.edu/
 http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/
 https://www.coursera.org/#course/sna

27. credits
 Structure and approach based on Information Visualisation MOOC, Indiana
University, Katy Börner
 Guardian datablog
 Albert Cairo’s MOOC data visualisation
 London tube maps: http://randomwire.com/new-london-tube-map-proposal
 Venezuela key indicators infographic: Paul Scruton
 9 Ways to Visualize Proportions – Nathan Yau http://flowingdata.com/2009/11/25/9-ways-to-visualize-proportions-a-guide/
 Iraq after the invasion http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/mar/14/iraq-ten-years-visualised
 Maps France: Image (left) republished from the freely licensed media file repository Wikimedia
Commons, source: ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FrancePopulationDensity1968.png Image from "The Good and The Bad [2012]" by
Martin Theus http://www.theusrus.de/blog/ the-good-the-bad-22012/

28. Enjoy visualising !
www.wageningenUR.nl/cdi
www.facebook.com/CDIwageningenUR
www.twitter.com/CDIwageningenUR
mirjam.schaap@wur.nl