Datarant

Pennies for Peace Update

2010-10-15T15:12:00.005-05:00

Data visualization

2010-06-28T13:20:00.015-05:00

I'm testing data visualization software (and ideas) for a faculty member working on a project about real estate values and public school systems. I have a couple of examples I made of visualizations of Connecticut housing data using Tableau Public here and here. Of course, with Tableau Public, you have to worry about the stability of the cloud, so for this particular project, I'm not sure whether this will do.

But I'm a big fan of Jon Udell (and Hans Rosling) and so I would make the argument that creating screencasts in which the author of data visualization narrates the data are going to be useful for those who would rather sit back and listen. These days, the free tools with which you can make screencasts are endless, but I prefer Screencast-o-matic. The interface looks clunky, but works like a dream. (Read this review of 12 screencasting tools if you want to try something else). With Screencast-o-matic, you can export your screencast as an mp4 (like here), allowing you to preserve whatever (possibly) unstable data visualizations you have created while simultaneously supplementing the visualization with a soundtrack.

New printer

2010-06-15T08:55:00.008-05:00

In response to multiple student requests, the SSC is getting a first printer and, at least for the first year, we will offer (dare I say it?) free printing.

The plan is set the default printing settings in the SSC to print double-sided and to use an eco-font. Students are welcome to use the printer, but advised to use it mostly for their own papers and assignments and not for printing readings from class. Not only is this not environmentally sustainable, but it is also not financially feasible!

Enjoy!

Second attempt at a Google motion chart

2010-04-20T11:17:00.001-05:00

Well, the quality isn't very good (very fuzzy), but the chart is much better than the last one I made. They data are time series data on faculty salaries against college tuition costs from 2000 to 2009. For some reason the html to embed the actual graph on this blog aren't work. Still, take a look:

Trinity is hiring!

2010-04-12T10:02:00.000-05:00

As many students may know, Trinity College is in the process of hiring multiple new staff members. Right now we are searching for: a new Director of Institutional Research, and new Chief Information Officer, and a new Director of the Watkinson Library. These are huge positions on campus. Stay tuned!

Fall 2009 - Econometric Poster Presentations

2009-12-08T14:56:00.004-05:00

Students who are currently taking Econometrics (Economics 318) will be available in the Social Science Center - on the second floor of Williams - to discuss their projects on Tuesday, December 15 from 10 to 12 noon. This is not a series of student presentations. Rather, each of the seven groups of students has prepared a poster which summarizes their model and the results of their project. We would like to invite you to attend.

Does your neighbor’s foreclosure decrease the value of your home? (Casey Armstrong, Amanda Curley, Emeka Kanu)
How does pitcher fatigue affect major league pitcher performance? (Francois Auzerais, Thomas Kilgore, Matt Santore)

Is it worth expanding commuter rail in Connecticut? (Will von Meister, Matt Howe)

Why are there such large swings in the stock of office space in Boston? (Max Stratouly, Nick Vasquez)

What factors are most influential in a Hartford parent’s decision to choose a high test scoring school for their child? (Joel Caron, Christopher Hunt, Manam Chowhan, Tehani Guruge, Ben Dawson)

At the town level, how important were Independents in the reelection of Governor Jodi Rell in 2006? (Jake Gaffey, Craig Drusbosky, Norm Salem)

Is Connecticut a competitor in attracting venture capital? (Sean McGlynn, Dan D’Aprile, Mike Perl, Natasha Das)

Course on "People and the Polls" for Spring 2010

2009-11-06T11:28:00.002-05:00

It's almost Advising Week here at Trinity, which means its time for Trinity students to start thinking about what they want to take next semester. I'll be teaching a new class on "People and the Polls" (see the course description here). Among other things, I want to have the students in the course examine the unrolling of the 2010 Census. All aboard! Sign up now!

Pictures of the SSC, circa 1930

2009-10-22T21:12:00.006-05:00

The room that now houses the Social Science Center used to be Trinity's original library and was occupied as such until the library moved to its first free-standing building in 1952 (where it still stands today). In case you are curious, this is what it used to look like (courtesy of Peter Knapp at the Trinity College Archives in the Watkinson):

Most of the book shelves lining the sides of the room are long gone, but they still remain in the corners. I love the light shining through the east window!

Sociology open house - October 27

2009-10-14T08:21:00.005-05:00

The Sociology Department is hosting an open house for prospective majors on October 27, from 4:15 to 5:30 in the Crescent Street building where the department is located. Take a look at the flier.

Greetings from Ann Arbor

2009-10-09T13:15:00.004-05:00

Right now, I'm in Michigan, as part of the assessment team for ICPSR's new website Teaching With Data. Unfortunately, it's pouring in Ann Arbor, and so I don't get to troll around one of my favorite college towns before events commence at 3:00 pm. However, being here always reminds me of how cool data people are. I'm ready to begin!

Trinity Days Workshops - Register Now!

2009-10-07T05:58:00.007-05:00

I will be hosting three workshops over Trinity Days:

Workshop#1: Excel (Monday, October 12, 10 - 12)
Workshop#2: SPSS (Monday, October 12, 2 - 4)
Workshop#3: Atlas.ti (Tuesday, October 13, 10 - 12)

We’ll be working in the best computer lab on campus (Seabury 205), eating some food, and working through some “real world” situations that require technical, software skills. There is no better time to start picking up these skills than while you are in college, where you can do this for free in a low-stress environment!

These workshops are for students from all skill levels (from those who would rather avoid learning new software to those who know a lot about the software at hand but want to learn how to apply software skills to real, problem-solving activities).

Please visit the SSC events page to read the flier and register!

ICPSR's Meeting for Official Representatives - Online this week!

2009-10-05T19:50:00.004-05:00

Today was the kickoff for ICPSR's first ever online OR meeting. Usually ICPSR hosts their meeting in Ann Arbor every other year. But the economy got the best of everyone this year, and so they decided to host it online via webinars instead. Although it's disappointing not to go to Ann Arbor, the plus of doing things this way is that more people can attend. It doesn't cost a dime to register for these webinars and learn a few things about data.

Libbie Stephenson and I hosted our New OR Orientation today, so if you are not reading this blog post before now, I hate to say that you missed it! But do check out the rest of the schedule for this week. I'm hoping to catch the session on the 2010 Census on Wednesday at 11:00!

Trinity thesis student's thesis is online

2009-09-23T20:14:00.003-05:00

Devlin Hughes' thesis on the creation of the Smart Choices website is now online here. If you haven't read this yet, or if you don't know anything about Smart Choices, you should check it out. This thesis brings so many things together: digital and educational divide issues, data visualization, mapping, and website design.

The SSC gets its URL

2009-09-21T09:33:00.004-05:00

There is nothing that motivates a person more to finish a website than to get a new URL for it. I really shouldn't share this until my website has some real, useful content, but here it is anyway: http://www.trincoll.edu/ssc/. This actually points to another, off-campus server where the website is hosted, but that is fine with me!

The first week of classes

2009-09-14T10:20:00.005-05:00

The first week of classes at Trinity have come and gone, and I feel that all I have accomplished thus far--at least as far as the new Social Science Center--is installing my new lamps:

The SSC can't be open at night (at least not yet), but I'm hoping these will be useful once winter really hits and it starts getting dark in Connecticut around 4:00.

Early pics of the Social Science Center

2009-08-31T14:58:00.007-05:00

Quite fortuitously, I have received a room, and this room, deities willing, will become a Social Science Center (what that means and for whom it means something remains to be defined). But for now, some pictures. This is one of the corners at the north end of the room. The books are from a recently retired Political Science Professor. They chairs are have handles on the back and are full mobile (back legs are wheels). They match another six chairs not in view:

We have had two dual-boot computers installed and locked down to tables. These have all the lab software installed on them. We are also have--wait for it....---wireless!

Tweet!

2009-08-31T14:48:00.003-05:00

Please follow me on Twitter! I'm rachbarlow. I try to follow folks in higher ed, library/IT and data people, as well as people and organizations in Hartford and the metro area, so look at the tweeps I follow, too!

Data about myself talking about data

2008-12-17T13:22:00.004-05:00

I've signed up for a beta account with Daytum, a new website that is contributing to the trend in what Kevin Kelly refers to as the quantified self. Check out my numbers!

Note that these kinds of sites are proliferating all over the place. You can keep track of your sexual relationships, your finances, your companies salaries, your menstrual period, and the symptoms and medications associated with your disease.

Instant message me, please!

2008-10-31T07:47:00.002-05:00

You can now find me on AIM and GoogleTalk. My username is rachdata. Please say hello!

Using Wordle to compare library strategic plans

2008-10-16T12:23:00.004-05:00

The first is from Carleton College's library. The second is from Trinity

Adding my own data to gapminder!!!

2008-10-10T08:35:00.003-05:00

What to do?

2008-01-31T10:41:00.001-05:00

Trying to figure out what kind of chart to make? First, you have to figure out what you are trying to show (in other words, as one of my advisers used to say, "what kind of story do you want to tell?"). Try Juice Analytics' chart chooser. It gives you suggested as to what kind of chart you want and then provides you Excel templates in order to pull it off!

Data visualization with Many Eyes

2007-09-24T11:15:00.000-05:00

This from a student who just played with Many Eyes...

Data place

2007-09-17T13:37:00.001-05:00

Check out data place to learn how you can create scatterplots using Census data! Data place also has a mapping tool that does not quite beat Social Explorer, but gets pretty close

No more daTOR

2007-08-29T12:25:00.000-05:00

A new academic year brings us a new web page at Trinity College and, thus, a new way to find data resources. Our new version of Trinity Online Resources (TOR) incorporates resources that cover the gamut in terms of format: journal article databases, scholarly websites, audio and visual resources and yes: data! Take a look and let us know what you think!

Even more on data visualization

2007-05-07T08:53:00.000-05:00

We might not think of baby names as "data," but they sure are! I would love to teach a class using this mash-up of baby-name data. Students could read the chapter on names from Freakonomics and all of Stanley Lieberson's A Matter of Taste.

Redistributing Census Data

2007-04-16T12:05:00.000-05:00

It's always worth doing a quick review of what online sites attempt to do a better job of distributing/packaging Census data than the Census Bureau itself. Here's my current list:

Excel hack

2007-03-21T07:43:00.001-05:00

Like a lot of people, I think, I don't particular like the chart functions in Excel. But this Excel hack is so cool, and quite easy to do. My first attempt at doing this took about five minutes (see image to the right).

What is additional cool is that you can use the "conditional formatting" tool in Excel if you would want to make bars of a certain length different colors. I tried to color code the bars in my table by whether they were above or below the mean. Couldn't quite get it to work, but I'm still trying...

Data visualization

2007-03-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

Seems like the hottest thing in the data world is using Web 2.0 technologies to allow the average user to visualize data. A number of sites allow users to upload data sets and experiment with the visual presentation of them. Try:

Also, try reading some of the reviews of these sites here and here. It's worth noting that these sites seem to be coming out of the Edward-Tufte tradition. If you're into Tufte, you might want to check out the website devoted to sparklines and think about buying this.

Teaching about operationalization with dataset archives

2007-01-29T09:50:00.000-05:00

I've noticed that students have a really hard time moving from the idea they might have for a project to identifying a dataset that they can actually use. On Wednesday I'm going to experiment with how best to guide students through this transition from idea to empirical data that actually exists.

One point I would like to make with the students is that they should be browsing datasets while they refine research question. This means they have to begin looking at codebooks early on. The easier it is for students to gain access to codebooks, the better, so I would recommend the following data archives: CPANDA and ARDA.

The picture to the right gives you a sense of what you can see if you use CPANDA's "browse study questions" option. The fact that the students can immediately access the questions, without having to register and download a pdf or Word document is a huge plus!

Region specific data

2007-01-23T10:27:00.001-05:00

In a class offered this semester at Trinity, students will be asked to experiment with data visualization (read: Edward Tufte). Since the students will be working with the Hispanic Health Council here in Hartford, they are going to need health data--specifically on cancer rates for Hispanics--in the Hartford region.

I have found that getting regional data of this sort can be complicated, so it's worth documented what I found to be useful for the kind of basic charts and tables these students may be making...

the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System allows you to sort look at preventative behaviors, sorted by state and ethnicity
the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System allows you to do something similar for adults
the National Women's Health Indicators Database, despite its name, gives detailed data for women and men, sorted by state, county, ethnicity, and type of cancer (bladder, breast, etc.)

Trinity folks hard at work, even during break

2007-01-19T13:46:00.000-05:00

Dan, Devlin and I presented on our Invisible-Cities-Google-maps-mash-up work at a faculty development workshop the other day. If you look behind us, you can see a map. I think it's the one on problem properties. Look how happy we look...

Of course, the workshop was not all about maps. The first speaker was Tom Deans, from UCONN's Writing Center. He spoke about the classes he teaches where he has students write about/for/with community groups. The distinction between about/for/with is an interesting one, particularly when applied to our cases with google maps. The maps we made in our class were certainly about the community (abandoned properties), for the community in that we hoped people would use the map as a basis for action, and with the community, in that a local organization requested exactly this map!

Minding the gap

2007-01-19T08:36:00.001-05:00

Gapminder may be one of the coolest new teaching tools around. Use it to quickly show scatterplots, where each point is a different country plotted on three dimensions (two are whatever you would like: mortality, income, education, etc., and the third is time). These plots are interacting and show the shape of cross-national human development over time...

Places to visit when learning about Google maps mash-ups

2007-01-05T11:17:00.000-05:00

There are some must-sees for individuals who haven't had much contact with Google maps mash-ups:

Google maps mania's fifty things to do with a mash-up: nice overview for thinking of these maps as tools that people can use to accomplish some sort of goal
Chicago crime: considered the mother of all mash-ups
Gmaps pedometer: gives a sense of what is to come with mash-ups, because of its topographical features

Our project:

The final result
Our two tools: YourGMaps and Zeemaps
The project's aftermath: Jack Dougherty's map for Cities, Suburbs, and Schools and Devlin Hughes' Single Parent Resources in Hartford

Other educational examples:

Blue Puddle

we've been covered

2007-01-04T15:55:00.001-05:00

People still remember and notice work our Invisible Cities students conducted over eight months ago. A recent post in the Undercurrents Blog cites our food resources map.

the children of invisible cities

2007-01-04T14:55:00.000-05:00

Since we taught Invisible Cities in during the Spring 2006 semester, Google maps mash-up fever spread. We now have a few examples of mash-ups created here at Trinity outside of class that we taught last year. See here, here, and here.