Data Visualization and Effective Communication

This course provides students with tools and techniques to analyze and critique current forms of data visualization in both public media and research literature; and to construct high quality graphical displays with a keen understanding of the ethical challenges and the role of communication. Using research data provided by the instructor, students will build a portfolio of graphical displays and descriptions intended for both scientific journals and popular media. Emphasis is on: a) developing a conceptual understanding of the statistical context that surrounds graphical displays; b) critically evaluating graphical displays from a broad range of disciplines; and c) building effective graphical displays for intended audiences.