Comparisons

Readings due before class on Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Required

• Chapters 3 and 4 in Stephanie Evergreen, Effective Data VisualizationStephanie D. H. Evergreen, Effective Data Visualization: The Right Chart for the Right Data (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2017).
  
  
• Sparkline theory and practice⊕ This is a collection of posts by Edward Tufte about sparklines—scroll down a ways and check out his examples, analysis, and critiques.
  
  
• Time series sparklines
• The bullet graph
• Lollipop charts⊕ If you’re feeling adventurous (and you should!), do this tutorial as you read it.
  
  

Questions to reflect on

• In chapter 3, Evergreen provides a ton of new ways to present comparisons. Which ones are your favorite? Which ones didn’t quite click with you? In what situations are some more appropriate than others?
• Do combo charts and bullet graphs break the rule against double y-axes? Why or why not?