This week’s topic of discussion was about Data Visualization. There are a lot of different ways to display a data set. For my own project, I do not have a specific data set. The only type of data I have now is in regards to academics. I have a list of women’s majors and minors from the class of 1954 that could be compiled into some sort of data visualization. I am currently trying to figure out a way to display this data in a way that is both informative and visually pleasing to users.
My first thought was a pie chart. A pie chart would be an easy way to show the different subjects women majored in. A pie chart could both display the total number of women in the class of 1954 as well as the breakdown of majors. I could also use a bar graph to show this data as well but it would only show the breakdown of majors. Since I am only showing one particular class, there is not much data. There were only 63 women in the class of 1954. However, I could compile a bigger data set if I were to do multiple class years. With a larger set of data, there would probably be more options for showing and displaying that data.
I could break down the majors themselves using line graphs to show the increase or decrease of their popularity. I could also show the difference between what women and men majored in if I decided to gather a list of subjects men preferred major in. It would be interesting to put this data into Voyant Tools to see the frequency of majors and minors throughout the years. It would also be neat to see the majors in a word cloud as a visual aspect to my project.
Besides academics, I could also compile data on student clubs and activities. This data may be a little harder to gather because the only way of gathering the data is by paging through the yearbook. It would be interesting to see what types of clubs women were involved in and the shifting of interests throughout the years. I would also use pie charts, line graphs, and bar graphs to display this data.
I am currently working on a map that shows the day in the life of a 1950s college student by using StoryMap JS. Although the map serves as an extension to my narrative, I could also use a map as a way of displaying data. I would be able to use a mapping tool (something like Carto) to display the areas where women were living on campus throughout Gettysburg College history. I assume that over time the points on the map would grow as the college expands and women are given more freedom.
Although I am currently only working on the lists of women majors and minors, there is a possibility of adding more datasets to my project in the future. These datasets will add depth to my project and narrative to my project.
One of the challenges of having a limited data set is that it can be hard to find interesting ways to visualize the data, especially in any sort of interactive way. You don’t want to fall into the trap of visualizing the data you have just for the sake of doing it. Keep collecting, and I think eventually you have the grounds for some interesting topic and network modeling.