![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/testing.journalists.org\/wp-content\/sites\/4\/2014\/09\/Screen-Shot-2014-09-27-at-9.33.15-AM.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAre you rigorous when charting?<\/h2>\n
There are many rules to keep in mind when visualizing data. There are line charts for trends over time, bar charts for comparing categories, pie charts for showing composition. Choosing the wrong chart format might nullify your data. A non-zero baseline or inconsistent scale can visually overstate the data’s significance and distort the relationship between numbers.<\/p>\n
With all the online tools, colorful and visually attractive Infographics are so easy to make these days. But think twice before being creative with your charts, Yoo suggested. Your creativity could turn into something inaccurate or even ridiculous, like this one below. Remember, it’s science first, art second.<\/p>\n
People love maps. But Yoo said there are three questions to ask yourself before creating a map:<\/p>\n 1. Is this a geographic story?<\/p>\n 2. Does geography reveal a visual pattern?<\/p>\n 3. Do the data need geographic context in order to be understood?<\/p>\n In the heat map below, the geography doesn’t really show much of an interesting pattern. The incidents distribution seems very random geographically, and people don’t really need a map to understand the data.<\/p>\n The information could be better presented as below, which reveals the actual number for each state and its ranking. It turns out that Nevada\u00a0has incidents more than three times that of Colorado, the state in second place. This important fact, however, was totally hidden in the map above, which only shows a simple\u00a0division of categories. Presenting the information in the most accurate way is the key of data visualization. So don’t be obsessed with a map if it doesn’t help better tell the story.<\/p>\n If you are ready to dive into data visualization, Yoo suggested several starting points for beginners.<\/p>\n The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics<\/a>, Dona M. Wong<\/p>\n Excel is the easiest one, Illustrator gives you more styling options, and if you know basic Javascript, Highcharts.js is a very cool tool worth trying.<\/p>\n Alberto Cairo\u00a0@albertocairo<\/p>\n Tweets by @albertocairo<\/a><\/a><\/p>\nIs a map necessary?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nSo now … What should I do next?<\/h2>\n
Book<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nTools<\/h4>\n
People<\/h4>\n
\n\/\/
\nAndy Kirk\u00a0@visualisingdata<\/p>\n