Lecture 07: Data

by Mike Gleicher on February 15, 2012

From Bateman to Munzner

Generally, we are about abstracting the data

The enhanced pictures embrace the meaning of the data

Data Types (a taxonomy)

Useful to abstract data types – similar kinds of data, similar approaches

Useful for understanding how to display the information

The Structure of the Elements

  • Fields vs. Tables (what is the index of the elements)
  • Tables, Networks (Graphs), Trees (relationships)
    • Trees are a special case
    • Networks can be encoded in a table
  • Text and other freeform information
    • Video, images, audio, …
    • Streams of signal
  • Semantics Vs. Types

Attribute Types (the types of elements)

  • Set Size
  • Continuous vs. Discrete
  • Bounded vs. Unbounded
  • Categorical (not-ordered)
    • nominal, ordinal, interval
  • Ordered and Ordinal (rankable)
  • Quantatative (can do artihmentic)
  • Do Ratios make sense? (does it have a zero?)

Transformations

Issues Not in Munzner

Sampling

Quantization

Binning and histogramming

Aliasing

 

Use 1D events (analog to snow)

overdraw, binning (histograms), kernel density estimates, pareto chart, rotation (look at spaces), other designs

in hindsight – you can know what’s right

The Design Challenge

See text notes

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