Please join us for a workshop with Steven Braun, Snell Library's Data Analytics and Visualization Specialist:

Data Analysis for Visualization

Steven Braun, Data Analytics and Visualization Specialist (Snell Library)

Thursday, November 10

10 - 11 AM

Snell 422

When we talk about visualizing data, we should never forget the fundamental fact that a visualization and its data are inextricably bound to one another. A visualization can bring order to very messy data, but only to a certain limit, constrained by the quality of the underlying data themselves and the quality and rigor with which we analyze them. In this workshop, aimed at audiences with some basic and intermediate familiarity with both visualization and data analysis, we will explore common pitfalls in data analysis and how they manifest in our visualizations. We will explore mysterious outcomes and unexpected behaviors that can influence the efficacy of our visualizations, including problems related to the use of summary statistics, false correlations, confounding variables, and handling null values. For each of these, we will consider their correlates of design and the ways that design choices can reinforce and perpetuate these pitfalls. Along the way, we will learn that ignorance propagates forward very quickly when we might not realize it: what you do not know or understand about your data is amplified in their analysis, visualization, and interpretation.

To RSVP, please use this form (https://goo.gl/forms/ZVyh6EM2Togu4ngI2). This workshop is open to all Northeastern students, faculty, and staff.

Please contact Steven Braun at [log in to unmask] with any questions.