Business & Management: Data Visualization

Do you communicate data and information to stakeholders? This issue is Part 1 of a two-part series on data visualization and evaluation. In Part 1, we introduce recent developments in the quantitative and qualitative data visualization field and provide a historical perspective on data visualization, its potential role in evaluation practice, and future directions. It discusses: Quantitative visualization methods such as tree maps Sparklines Web-based interactive visualization Different types of qualitative data visualizations, along with examples in various evaluation contexts A toolography describing additional data visualization tools and software, along with their major strengths and limitations. Intended as a guidance for understanding and designing data visualizations, this issue introduces fundamental concepts and links them to daily practice. This is the 139th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Evaluation, an official publication of the American Evaluation Association.

This issue delivers concrete suggestions for optimally using data visualization in evaluation, as well as suggestions for best practices in data visualization design. It focuses on specific quantitative and qualitative data visualization approaches that include data dashboards, graphic recording, and geographic information systems (GIS). Readers will get a step-by-step process for designing an effective data dashboard system for programs and organizations, and various suggestions to improve their utility. The next section illustrates the role that graphic recording can play in helping programs and evaluators understand and communicate the mission and impact that an intervention is having in a democratic and culturally competent way. The GIS section provides specific examples of how mapped data can be used to understand program implementation and effectiveness, and the influence that the environment has on these outcomes. Discusses best practices that inform and shape our data visualization design choices Highlights the best use of each tool/approach Provides suggestions for effective practice Discuss the strengths and limitations of each approach in evaluation practice This is the 140th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Evaluation, an official publication of the American Evaluation Association.

Before you can present information to others, you must understand its story. Now You See It teaches the concepts, principles, and practices of visual data sensemaking. The skills taught in this book rely primarily on something that most of us possess-vision-interactively using graphs to find and examine the meaningful patterns and relationships that reside in quantitative data. Although some questions about quantitative data can only be answered using sophisticated statistical techniques, most can be answered using relatively simple visual data sensemaking skills. Until Now You See It was published, no book taught these basic skills comprehensively and in a way that was accessible to a broad audience. Even though these skills can be developed by anyone with eyes to see, they are not intuitive-they must be learned. Without these skills, even the best data visualization tools are of little use, and data will remain nothing but noise.