Data link roundup - visualize it (week of August 30, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...
This week's theme: data visualization (overused term, but an important concept)


VISUALIZATION TOOLS

Over the past few weeks I've been working on data visualizations for a project at my day job. For prior projects, I had been using the "motion charts" Google gadget to make interactive graphics, but that tool (sadly) has been disabled.

In my search for a replacement, I learned about a wide variety of free online data visualization tools. A few resources worth noting are: Weave, Tableau, and Datawrapper. All three allow users to develop interactive charts and graphs. Tableau and Weave also offer mapping capabilities.

And if those options still don't fit your needs, try this directory of about a dozen other tools worth further exploration.


VISUAL EXPLORATION OF DATA

Sinan Aral's article in Harvard Business Review explains how the New York Times uses visual representations of data to understand patterns that a simple table might not illuminate...



BEST CHART OF THE WEEK

I'm a fan of images that convey a wealth of information with a simple concept. Population-adjusted country size maps, when done well, can do just that...

Source: Gizmodo

Data link roundup (week of July 19, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...
This week's theme: Maps! Cartography! GIS!


HOW NOT TO MAP YOUR DATA

While generally one of my favorite daily reads, The Atlantic WIRE gets their map analysis of murders in America all wrong.

Source: The Atlantic WIRE

The problem?

TAW maps total number of murders, but does not control for population size, and then highlights that California and Florida are always at the top of the list.

News flash to the murder map analysts: Those are two of the nation's most populous states!

Is it any wonder that California is always highest, followed by Texas, Florida, and New York? At this stage in the cartography game, we shouldn't have to say this, but when comparing trends by state:

Map per capita, people!
Per capita!


HOW DIVERSE IS YOUR CITY?

Starting with the 2000 Census, Eric Fischer developed a series of dot-density maps to display racial distribution patterns within U.S. metropolitan areas. Fisher updated the demographic dot map series for the 2010 Census.

Source: Eric Fischer

AFFORDABILITY: HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATION

The two largest components of the average American household budget are: housing and transportation, but most analysis focuses on just the housing part of "affordability" when comparing U.S. metro areas. The H + T index combines both in a web-based mapping application.
(Thanks to MC for passing this link along!)


JUST FOR FUN

And a few maps just for fun...

• Do you call your footwear "sneakers" or "tennis shoes?" Map of regional dialect in the United States.
• In what language do you Tweet? (More Eric Fischer maps via Nathan Yau)
• Mapping the rise of craft beer in the United States.
• Where do you do your grocery shopping? (Maps of regional grocery store chain concentrations.)

BEST CHART VISUALIZATION TOOL OF THE WEEK

Special thanks to my friend RC for pointing me to the Urban Observatory, an online visualization tool that allows users to compare socio-economic and environmental characteristics quickly across major world cities. Take, for example, population density in New York, Tokyo, and Mumbai...

Source: Urban Observatory

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

Now that Google Reader is gone, if you're not following on Twitter, you should be. I post fact-checked links and interesting data insights (nearly) every day.

Data link roundup (week of May 3, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...
... a geography lesson.

FREE (GIS) LUNCH

The National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) provides, free of charge, aggregate census data and GIS-compatible boundary files for the United States between 1790 and 2011.
Now you know what you'll be doing on your lunch-hour this week...


BEST CHART MAP OF THE WEEK

The United States may be divided by state, county, city, and township boundaries, but our patterns of social activity rarely follow political jurisdiction lines.

Dick Brockman tracked currency interactions (following the paths individually-tracked dollar bills on "Where's George") to see how Americans flow -- or at least how their currency does -- across the country. Dark blue lines represent "neighborhoods" in which people have close, in-person financial interactions with one another.

Source: NPR via Dick Brockman

Data link roundup (week of January 25, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...

VISUALIZING CONNECTED COMMUNITIES

By analyzing and mapping the end point locations of telephone calls, SENSEable City Lab identified closely connected communities within Great Britain and the United States. Some patterns that emerge:

• Residents of the New York metro area do not have terribly strong connections with residents upstate
• There is a Mason-Dixon-like line separating southern and northern California
• Northwest Florida is much more closely connected with Alabama and Georgia than with the rest of Florida

Source: Xiaoji Chen's design blog

EQUALITY AND JUSTICE

For those who focus on issues of environmental justice and social equity, Schweitzer's piece on equality and justice is thought-provoking. The post is not about not data, per-se, but understanding the distinction between equality and justice can be crucial when developing appropriate measurements (for example) for Title VI analysis.


BEST CHART OF THE WEEK

These histograms, by Bill Rankin, showing population by latitude and longitude are excellent data visualizations: clever and informative:

Source: Bill Rankin's Radical Cartography

Has flu season peaked?

By the end of December nearly every state in the nation reported widespread cases of influenza.

Source: CDC

And by the first week of January, all states were reporting at least regional cases of the flu, with the vast majority reporting widespread outbreaks.

Source: CDC

However, flu season usually peaks in February or March, not in December, and while the spread of flu appears to have slowed, epidemiologists will not know for weeks whether or not the peak of flu season has passed. The slowdown may simply be part of the ebb and flow of this year's flu season.

Source: CDC

More about the data:

In addition, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collect data from state health departments report. The first two maps below show data from the state-level reporting.

The maps are based on:

...the estimated level of geographic spread of influenza activity in their states each week through the State and Territorial Epidemiologists Reports. States report geographic spread of influenza activity as no activity, sporadic, local, regional, or widespread. These levels are defined as follows:
No Activity: No laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza and no reported increase in the number of cases of ILI.
Sporadic: Small numbers of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases or a single laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreak has been reported, but there is no increase in cases of ILI.
Local: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in ILI cases and recent laboratory-confirmed influenza in a single region of the state.
Regional: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in ILI and recent laboratory confirmed influenza in at least two but less than half the regions of the state with recent laboratory evidence of influenza in those regions.
Widespread: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in ILI cases and recent laboratory-confirmed influenza in at least half the regions of the state with recent laboratory evidence of influenza in the state.

CDC cautions, however, that the maps reflect the "geographic spread of influenza viruses, but does not measure the severity of influenza activity."

In addition, shown on map three, CDC monitors and reports on influenza through the Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet).

Activity levels are based on the percent of outpatient visits in a state due to ILI and are compared to the average percent of ILI visits that occur during spring and fall weeks with little or no influenza virus circulation... The map uses the proportion of outpatient visits to health care providers for influenza-like illness to measure the ILI activity level within a state. It does not, however, measure the extent of geographic spread of flu within a state. Therefore, outbreaks occurring in a single city could cause the state to display high activity levels. Data collected in ILINet may disproportionately represent certain populations within a state, and therefore, may not accurately depict the full picture of influenza activity for the whole state.  

For more information CDC also provides an interactive mapping tool, Flu View.

Influenza

In case you had not noticed the coughing and sneezing of your neighbors (or the complaints of fever and chills posted by friends on Facebook), CDC confirms that flu season is upon us...

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitor and report on influenza through the Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet). In addition, CDC staff collect data from state health departments report. The maps below show data from the state-level reporting.

Influenza activity in early December...

Source: CDC

... and at the end of December.

Source: CDC

The maps are based on:

...the estimated level of geographic spread of influenza activity in their states each week through the State and Territorial Epidemiologists Reports. States report geographic spread of influenza activity as no activity, sporadic, local, regional, or widespread. These levels are defined as follows:
No Activity: No laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza and no reported increase in the number of cases of ILI.
Sporadic: Small numbers of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases or a single laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreak has been reported, but there is no increase in cases of ILI.
Local: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in ILI cases and recent laboratory-confirmed influenza in a single region of the state.
Regional: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in ILI and recent laboratory confirmed influenza in at least two but less than half the regions of the state with recent laboratory evidence of influenza in those regions.
Widespread: Outbreaks of influenza or increases in ILI cases and recent laboratory-confirmed influenza in at least half the regions of the state with recent laboratory evidence of influenza in the state.

According to the most recent information, flu virus is active in every one of the contiguous states and in Alaska. Hawaii is reporting only sporadic flu activity.

CDC cautions, however, that the maps reflect the "geographic spread of influenza viruses, but does not measure the severity of influenza activity."

For more information CDC also provides an interactive mapping tool, Flu View.

Data link roundup (week of January 4, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...

WHERE TO BE BORN

Back in 1988 The World in 1988 ranked nations according to the "best place to be born." The Economist Intelligence Unit crafted a more modern ranking scheme, based on a quality-of-life index, and published the results in The Economist.

The verdict: Switzerland is the place to be (born).

Source: The Economist

Best quote of the article:

Quibblers will, of course, find more holes in all this than there are in a chunk of Swiss cheese.

...but fascinating reading, nonetheless.


CORRELATION BETWEEN AGE, EDUCATION, AND BIRTH OUTCOME

Philip Cohen provides unique data to show that while pregnancy risks increase with mother's age, the relationship between educational attainment and birth outcome is much stronger.


BEST CHART OF THE WEEK

Brandon Martin-Anderson mapped every person (341,817,095) in the United States and Canada, according to the 2010 and 2011 Census counts, respectively.

Source: Brandon Martin-Anderson

The map is visually appealing, but, as an active user of small-area Census data, my favorite bit the author's response to FAQs:

Nobody lives in Central Park/Pier 12/County Lockup/Abandoned Themepark.
The census reported that someone lived there.
This says someone lives in the middle of a lake.
The census reported that someone lives in a block which includes a lake, and that's where their dot was randomly placed. Also, some people live in the middle of lakes.

Geography Awareness Week: Waterfront Property

This week we'll be celebrating Geography Awareness Week by highlighting unique spatial visualizations of data.

Image source and source notes: Counties are based on 2010 geography and historical populations are based on population estimates derived from decennial census data (1790-2010).
Point locations are based on population-weighted county centroids.

According to NOAA, today more than half of the U.S. population lives in a coastal county. Recent graphics from the U.S. Census Bureau put the proportion closer to one third.

Why are the two measures so different?

The answer is in how you define "coast."

The Census Bureau analysis, pictured above, defines a "coastal county" as any county in which a portion of the county's boundary is adjacent to an ocean. NOAA's analysis includes the Great Lakes in the definition of coastal. Densely populated areas, like Chicago, account for the difference in the two measurements.

Geography Awareness Week: Election Coverage

This week we'll be celebrating Geography Awareness Week by highlighting unique spatial visualizations of data.

The 2012 election was marked by punditry, partisanship, and polling. But the election also allowed geo-spatial patterns a moment in the 24-hour news cycle spotlight.

Here are few striking visualizations from the election coverage:
Dr. Vanderbei at Princeton looks at changing patterns in party preference in presidential elections since the 1960s. Blue represents Democrat counties, red represents Republican, and green is all other.

Election results in 2012

Image source

Similarly stunning are the New York Times interactive graphics of the election results, which represent factors ranging from the size of each candidate's lead to the shift in votes between 2008 and 2012.

Taking the visualizations in a different direction, the population weighted cartograms published at the University of Michigan are pretty neat. They show a nation much less divided than the to-scale red-state/blue-state maps do.

Sadly, a flurry of racist tweets greeted the election results. The southeast had the highest proportion of racist tweets as a share of overall tweets on election night, as measured using a location quotient ratio.

Image source

So we have evidence that the United States is a very divided nation...
... or is it?

Image source

Geography Awareness Week: Charting population density along America's highways

This week we'll be celebrating Geography Awareness Week by highlighting unique spatial visualizations of data.

The U.S. Census Bureau produced a series of graphics that show population density along some of the nation's most and least heavily populated transportation corridors.

Image source and source notes: Population density is based on average population density within 5 miles of the highway, in 2-mile increments, using 2010 block group centroids and 2010 Census population counts.

According to the Census Bureau:

Running from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, I-10 passes through 8 states and several major cities and traverses the 3rd largest population among the country's interstate highways. Population density within 5 miles of the interstate show several lengths with very low population density, including stretches between El Paso and San Antonio. Selected cities along the route are labeled, for reference, with cities of 250,000 or more shown in bold and with filled circles.

For comparative purposes, the Census Bureau provides a similar population density chart for the I-90 corridor, which runs along the northern part of the United States from Seattle to Boston. The highway, despite connecting Seattle, Chicago, and Boston, passes through some of the least densely populated areas in the nation.

Go West, Americans! (Or maybe South?)

Since the Census Bureau started keeping score in 1790, the nation's population has grown fastest in the western and southern regions, shifting the nation's "mean center of population" in a steady march across the continent.

According to the Census Bureau:

The center is determined as the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all residents were of identical weight.

Tracking the mean center of population tells a story of the nation's growth, conflicts, and social change. This interactive map from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the shifting mean center of population over time:


Today's mean center is in Texas County, Missouri - more than 1,000 miles from the first recorded center in Kent County, Maryland (1790). Some of the biggest shifts over time show the nation's development, and at times, growing pains.

Major shifts over time:
1790: First mean center is calculated as falling about 23 miles east of Baltimore, MD.

1810: The Louisiana Purchase (1803) doubled the land area of the nation, and the mean center shifted into Virginia.

1860: The center shifted by more than 80 miles (biggest shift on record) thanks to rapid growth in the nation's western states, driven in large part by the Gold Rush.

1870: Just ten years later the mean center of population experienced it's biggest shift to the north, as Northeastern and Midwestern cities experienced rapid post-Civil War growth as people fled the war-ravaged South. Also during this time Alaska became a U.S. territory (1867).

1920: The smallest shift on record was between 1910 and 1920. The nation's current territory had already been acquired, slowing the rate of westward expansion. The Northeast and Midwest saw large inflows of international migrants. And last, but certainly not least, there was substantial migration of black/African American population out of the South and into the Northeast and Midwest, precipitated by the intense racism that spawned the Jim Crow laws.

1950: After six decades in Indiana (the longest in any one state), the center finally crossed state lines into Illinois.

2010: The center has its biggest recorded shift to the south, as Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas record rapid population growth.