I used to conduct qualitative-heavy research projects pretty much all day every day. Key informant interviews, bellwether interviews, document review, focus groups, you name it… …so I know from personal experience that 99.9% of qualitative reports look like this: Which is fine, unless you want someone…
The only thing I love more than analyzing research data is analyzing personal finance data. In both cases, simple descriptive statistics and basic charts can shine a spotlight on interesting patterns and help people choose their course of action. Not too long ago, a friend…
First, the best thing I’ve ever written about: Ann K. Emery: Independent consultant! I’m taking my data visualization and data analysis interests to the next level. Life is short; spend it well. My goal: To equip you to collect, analyze, and visualize your own…
When social scientists like me have lots of data, we tend to put it in tables. There’s nothing wrong with tables. They contain infinite details within a finite and teeny space, and they give the reader freedom to draw his or her own conclusions about which details…
I remember the exact moment when I discovered–and got addicted to–data visualization. I was an internal evaluator at a 300-person human services organization. Being an internal evaluator means your “clients” are your coworkers who work down the hall from you. You talk to each other about…
![Who knew dataviz could be so easy? [Guest post by Stephen Alexander]](/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/alexander_remake-270x270.png)
For the record, I had no clue that data visualization could be easy. As someone who’d spent two years working to understand and improve an organizational dashboard (not to mention an evaluation process), perhaps I should have known better. My assumption, for whatever reason, was…
I’ve got a lot of dataviz skeletons in my closet. This beauty comes from my second week as an evaluator: Border, grid lines, tick marks…. A legend instead of direct labeling… A generic title instead of a “so what?” title… You get the idea. Today I…