Network Mapping & Data Storytelling for Beginners

Post on 05-Dec-2014

854 views 1 download

description

5-hour Workshop about network mapping and data storytelling. This includes examples about data, networks, visualization, etc. Given on Jan 31st, 2013 during a lecture in the Master Information, Technology and Territories in the Institute of Geography and Social Sciences, Toulouse 2 University. France. Many thanks to @graphcommons for the inspiration.

Transcript of Network Mapping & Data Storytelling for Beginners

Clément

Renaud

DATA & VISUALIZATION

INVESTIGATING

COMPLEX TERRITORIES

Toulouse 2 University - Oct 2013 @clemsos

#

data

journalism

visualization

social networks

urbanity

China

Clément Renaud

phD Social networks and urban

spaces in China

Co-founder Sharism Lab

@sharismlab

sharismlab.com

@clemsos

clement.renaud@gmail.com

www.clementrenaud.com

ABOUT ME

What is data and

how people use it

How it relates to

territories

Showcase some

examples

Introduce tools

Achievement

MAP A NETWORK

1) Identify a case

2) Find data you need

3) Map it

TODAY CLASS: OBJECTIVES

Data Morning

Some definitions

Data & territories

Workshop: Network mapping

Viz Afternoon

Visualization

Tools gallery

Workshop: Visualize it

Duration:

2x3h

Materials:

Slides (here)

Notes

TODAY CLASS: DETAILS

PART 1 :

Definitions

DATA,

NETWORKS,

ETC.

DATA :

- Factual information, especially information organized

for analysis or used to reason or make decisions

- Information output by a sensing device or organ that

includes both useful and irrelevant or redundant

information and must be processed to be meaningful

- Information in numerical form that can be digitally

transmitted or processed

From Merr iam-Webster

WHAT IS DATA?

Look at those

SOME

DATA

Written info in huge amounts

Quantification of its subject / object

Storage - in computers databases

Can be processed by machines

Huge trend in early 21st Century:

business, ad, indsutry, science, etc.

DATA=DIGITAL INFORMATION

Objectivize things to provide new understanding

A « facts are sacred » approach towards complex questions and problem-solving

Apply scientific method to interrogate any kind of beings, objects, ideas, etc.

WHAT IS AT STAKE WITH DATA?

Problem:

Most of data is made by machines,

for machines.

How can we access it?

How can we understand it?

HANDLE COMPLEXITY

1. Statistics: Studying

2. Data Munging: Suffering

3. Visualization: Storytelling

From raw data

to images

THE DATA

SCIENCE

METHOD

Mike @dataspora , Sexy Data Geeks. 2009

Methodology for invest igat ion

Examples:

DNA

Bra in s tud ies

Soc ia l Networks Analys is

DATA

SCIENCE

datajournal ism

handbook.org

DATA

JOURNALISM

“The brain doesn’t just process information

that comes though the eyes. It also creates

mental visual images that allow us to

reason and plan actions that facilitate

survival.”

VISUALIZATION

A. Cairo, The Functional Art - 2013

NETWORKS STRUCTURE

http://www.aaronkoblin.com/work/flightpatterns/

Visual izat ion of my professional network us ing L inkedin Labs

Facebook network graph can be generated us ing

Netvizz

LINKEDIN

NETWORK

The Seat t le Band Map explores how bands f rom the Paci f ic Nor thwest are in terconnected through persona l re la t ionships and co l labora t ions .

h t tp : / /www.seat tlebandmap.com/

SEATTLE

BAND

MAP

Muse is an

in teract ive

visual izat ion of

sc ient i f ic

publ icat ions to

explore the

col laborat ions

between

ins t i tut ions .

h t tp: / / t i l lnagel .

com/2010/11/m

use/

MUSE

Mapping 2005-

2011 Kiva

act iv i ty (micro-

loans and

payback)

Video f rom

ht tp: / /v imeo.co

m/28413747

KIVA

MAP

PART 2 :

WORKSHOP NETWORK MAPPING

The model of a network is everywhere :

cities, DNA, social relationships, Internet,

etc.

Question is : « What connects? » - and how.

What is this strange relationship that links

data to networks?

SURROUNDED BY NETWORKS

MAP THE CLASSROOM AS A NETWORK

WHAT CONNECTS IN THIS CLASSROOM?

Questions:

What is the structure of the network?

What are the different kinds of data we can identify?

How is the data produced? exchanged?

IDENTIFY A NETWORK

MAP YOUR OWN NETWORK !

Civil Society NGO-STK-Network Workshop in Istanbul by @graphcommons

Transmission Networks Something actually flows.

Interaction Networks Connection is an event, with a specific time.

Attribution Networks Connection is an expression of a relationship.

Affiliation Networks Connection is a belonging to a group or category.

CONNECTIONS

Objectives

Identify an interesting network related to a specific

territory

Ex: Food waste in Toulouse, actors in job research,

etc.

Deliveries

Draw an extensive map of this network

Use colors, dots, line, weight to represent things

MAP YOUR OWN NETWORKS

Where to start a graph?

You can start with the first thing that comes to your mind, then grow and tweak the map step by step from there.

Where to stop a graph?

Putting a definit ive graph title and considering only the strong connections help to limit your network map's scope.

Connection weight Strong connections bring closer the two end nodes, and reveal tight clusters. In fact, strong ties are more transitive than weak ties.

Collaborative mapping more fruitful and complete graphs, in fact, it is great for brain storming

SOME DIRECTIVES

From http://graphcommons.com

GRAPHIC

STORIES

DATA,

IMAGES

AND TERRITORIES

What is the story you want

to tell us?

The example of the Arab

Spring

Te l l your s tory

What is the

speci f ic focus

you want to

take out o f th is

data set?

DATA

VISUALIZA

TION

Arab spr ing: an

in teract ive

t imel ine of

Middle East

protests

See l ive on

the Guardian

EVENTS

TIMELINE

In format ion

Flows Dur ing

the 2011

Tunis ian and

Egypt ian

Revolut ions

h t tp: / /www.dan

ah.org/projects

/ IJOC-

ArabSpr ing/

THE

REVOLUTIONS

WERE

TWEETED

Ident i fy

d i f ferences

and common

points?

What are key

elements to

success in

each p iece?

How has the

data been

produced?

IS THIS

THE SAME

STORY?

OTHER RECENTS EVENTS

Sandy storm - Power Cut Blackout map based on Tweets by Social Flow

Made publicly

available (release,

access,

documentation…)

Open Data is not

only governmental

data

Mutual economic

interests

Open government

initiative

Code for America

US political tradition

based on

accountability

Obama campaign has

http://www.data.gov/

ABOUT OPEN DATA

OpenData 71

Top-down initiative

Public funding

National target

Cons

Nobody use this data

Unsustainable

Pros

Nice data platform

Rennes Collective Action

Citizen-based

No funding

Local target

Cons

Illegal practices

Unclear program

Pros

Data is in use

OPEN DATA IN FRANCE

BASICS

&

METHODS VISUALIZATION

Objectives: extract, process, visualize, publish

Tools : Web-based, softwares, languages

WORKFLOW: CREATE A DATAVIZ

Ben Fry, Computational Design. 2004

A story tends to

1. begin somewhere

2. tell something

3. end.

These apply for a map, a graph, a visualization, etc.

You may find data in weird places.

Draft, draft, draft

Chose your tools based on your (team) skil ls.

Mind the time spent!

Be kind to your readers

DEFINE A DATAVIZ PROJECT

How it should work:

1. Define project

2. Find data

3. Draft something visual

4. Define tools & time

5. Clean and refine data

6. Visualize

7. Publish

8. Promote

How it really works

1. Great, I have some nice data/a bri l l iant idea !

2. Let’s try some tools

3. Well, I just waste 3 hours on tutorials

4. I should do something easier

5. Another 2 hours on google

6. What was this bri l l iant idea again?

7. I should post this l ink on Facebook

8. I t ’s late already. Let’s just forget about this dataviz thing….

STEP BY STEP

GEEK

GALLERY TOOLS ARE EVIL.

Easy maps & graph

GOOGLE FUSION TABLES

Example

WEB-BASED:

http://infogr.am

INFOGR.AM WEB-BASED:

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/

SOFTWARE:

Graphic design and vectors

Draw Beautiful Maps

TILEMILL

http://mapbox.com/tilemill/gallery/

SOFTWARE:

GEPHI SOFTWARE:

Photoshop for Network Graph

Statistics on Steroids

R LANGUAGE:

PROCESSING LANGUAGE:

Interactive Awesomeness

WORKSHOP DATA STORYTELLING

IN PRACTICE

Based on your network map, imagine a specific story

you want to tell or a specific idea you want to

investigate with data.

A story

A title

A visualization draft

A list of possible data sources & how to get it Where to find interesting?

Can you access it? If not, imagine a way to get this data

Licensing, ownership & privacy issues

DESIGN A VISUALIZATION!

5 min Presentation

You have to put together a 5 min presentation

about your data story

You have to show:

A story

A title

A visualization draft

How do you plan to get your data?

(Some existing data, if possible)

YOUR DATA STORY

Pros

What is so great about

this presentation?

Cons

Why is this presentation

so awful?

COURT OF ATTENDEES

For each presentation, we split the attendees in 2 groups: pros & cons

The groups should change each time (one time pros, one time cons).

SEE YOU

ONLINE

@clemsos

THANKS !

BYE