soci 122- data & infographics

Data & Infographics

Nicole Branch, Social Sciences LibrarianSanta Clara University Library

Image courtesy of Flickr user Niels Heidenreich.

Today we will…

• Find data about the topic of your brief

• Practice making data charts

• Create an infographic about your topic

Why Data?

• Can help understand social/community issues

• Can help explore your topic and prepare your brief

• Can support understanding needs and concerns related to your topic

• It’s important

Finding Data & Statistics

Think about WHO might collect the data you are interested and WHO might publish the results.

Government agenciesNon-government organizationsAcademic institutionsPrivate sector

Some Data Consideration

Think about if the data/statistics you are looking for will be made readily available.

Controversial/harmful dataNot broadly applicable dataLag time for data disseminationAbsence of data

Critiquing Data & Data Sources

Who is the source of the data?Does the source of the data have a bias/interest

in the data and how might this impact how the data was collected or analyzed?

What is the sample size and how was the data collected?

What is the larger context of the data?Correlations are not causations.

Finding Data & Statistics

There are many different places to find data:

Recommended resourcesGoogle (data/statistics + topic)

Your task is to find an interesting piece of data about your topic.

Making Charts In Excel/Google Sheets

Infographics

• Visually represent data

• Quick and compelling way to engage others with data

Infographics

Less is More

• Focus on one compelling thing you would like your audience to feel/learn

Adapted from Grasshopper Marketing, Infographics Best Practices, http://grasshoppermarketing.com/infographics-best-practices/

Topic is Everything

• Pick a timely but not played out topic

Adapted from Grasshopper Marketing, Infographics Best Practices, http://grasshoppermarketing.com/infographics-best-practices/

Data is King

• Use credible/authoritative data

• Let the data drive the design

Adapted from Grasshopper Marketing, Infographics Best Practices, http://grasshoppermarketing.com/infographics-best-practices/

Color is Queen

• Think about a color palette

• Thoughtful, cohesive selection of colors

• Not too many

Adapted from Grasshopper Marketing, Infographics Best Practices, http://grasshoppermarketing.com/infographics-best-practices/

Simple Design

• Not too crowded

• Not too many elements

Adapted from Grasshopper Marketing, Infographics Best Practices, http://grasshoppermarketing.com/infographics-best-practices/

Begin with the end

• Determine the main take-away, and let that guide your design and data selection

Adapted from Grasshopper Marketing, Infographics Best Practices, http://grasshoppermarketing.com/infographics-best-practices/

Example

Infographic courtesy of Fast Company.

Example

Infographic courtesy of Joshua Chavers.

Begin with the end

• Take a minute to determine the main take-away.

• Then we’ll share.

Create your Infographic

• Using one of the recommended design software products, create an infographic for your main-takeaway

Questions?

Nicole BranchSociology LibrarianX5436nbranch@scu.edu