in’t maps brilliant: understanding data through visualisation
DESCRIPTION
OAC User Group Presentation by Dan VickersTRANSCRIPT
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
In’t Maps Brilliant: Understanding Data
Through Visualisation
Dr Daniel VickersLecturer in Social and Spatial InequalitiesDepartment of GeographyUniversity of Sheffield
OACUG Seminar, Royal Statistical Society, London, 15th September 2009
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
Contents
• Thinking of Numbers in a Different Way
• Bringing Numbers to Life
• Adding Place to Data
• Taking the Place out Again
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
Thinking of Numbers in a Different Way• Numbers without context ≈0
• Relative positions can be more important than values
• Relative positions without values ≈0
• Identifying the BIG numbers
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
OAC Recap• Puts all 223,060 UK Census OAs into groups based on social
characteristics
• Hierarchy of 7, 21 and 52 groups
• 1: Blue Collar Communities,
• 2: City Living,
• 3: Countryside,
• 4: Prospering Suburbs,
• 5: Constrained by Circumstances,
• 6: Typical Traits,
• 7: Multicultural.
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
Using statistics to understand a complex world
• Understanding = Knowledge
Another 223,030 rows here
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Bringing Numbers to Life
I Live in a Prospering Suburb
I have not got a clue what that means
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1: Blue Collar Communities
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
2: City Living
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
3: Countryside
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
4: Prospering Suburbs
Oh, I see
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5: Constrained by Circumstances
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
6: Typical Traits
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
7: Multicultural
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
Alternative variable profiles by super-group: Flats (All)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
That looks like our street!
Yes, but these don’t
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
Yes, and using, different things to visualise them helps us understand
So we can use numbers to understand our neighbourhoods
And maps can add to
our understandi
ng even more!
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
Adding Place to Data
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
Adding Place to Data
The Dog was right!
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12% of the people
What a lot of Green
90% of the area
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Taking the Place out Again….but
increasing our understanding12% of the people = 12% of the area
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
04/10/23 © The University of Sheffield
Making Maps Brilliant
• data + context + visualisation = Brilliant!
• areaclassification.org.uk
• shef.ac.uk/sasiAhh! A talking Dog