For this blog I chose to look at the US population dataset of the United State. The data was taken from the United States decennial census. The dataset includes information on the US population beginning in 1790 and ending in 2010. To build a visualization of this dataset I chose to work with Raw. It was the most interesting to me in class and seemed the most user-friendly. I still do not feel very confident in my data visualization skills so I thought I would start somewhere that was more straightforward and simple to use.
The beginning of Yau’s text begins with exploring the reasoning as to why you chose to make your visualization a certain way. Obviously the graphing method you choose is a huge factor in how your visualization turns out, but even smaller modifications can have a great effect on your outcome such as size or color. In order make your visualization the best it can, all of these elements should be appropriate for the data you are working with.
For my data I explored several different formats including the delaunay triangulation option, a scatter plot, and a cluster dendrogram. Though I used the same data set for each visualization, each of the graphs were able to tell be different information about the data.
The delaunay triangulation format was not helpful at all for the assignment. I could not figure out how to make any of the text appear and I’m assuming that this template dose not include any numerical information, it is simply a way to represent data purely visually.
The scatter plot did an adequate job representing the data. With more practice I believe I could achieve a more correct sizing for the plot, which would improve on the ability to read the data.
The cluster dendrogram is also very simple to read however it had more room for data than the dataset I chose actually had. This format seems to be more effective when having 3 or more different columns of data.
To be honest the original excel sheet that my data came on was a better visualize it than the graphs I created in Raw. The dataset I chose was very straightforward and did not really need to be complicated by graphs and charts to be understood easily. The only other method of graphic that I believe would be helpful to visualize this information would be through a simple bar graph, and depending on what you were using the data for, a tool that illustrated percent increase of the population throughout the years.
From this exercise I have learned that sometimes you can complicate your dataset from over exhausting visualization tools. There is a time and place for programs such as Raw and you must be observant as to when it is acceptable to use them.