What is data?

This is a class in data visualization. But before we leap into making charts and maps, we'll consider the nature of data, and some basic principles that will help you to "interview" datasets to find and tell stories. This is not a class in statistics, but I will introduce a few fundamental statistical concepts, which hopefully will stand you in good stead as we work to visualize data over the next few weeks -- and beyond. We're often told that there are "lies, damned lies, and statistics." But data visualization and statistics provide a view of the world that we can't otherwise obtain. They give us a framework to make sense of daunting and otherwise meaningless masses of information. The "lies" that data and graphics can tell arise when people misuse statistics and visualization methods, not when they are used correctly. The best data journalists understand that statistics and graphics go hand-in-hand. Just as numbers can be made to lie, graphics may misinform if the designer is ignorant of or abuses basic statistical principles. You don't have to be an expert statistician to make effective charts and maps, but understanding some basic principles will help you to tell a convincing and compelling story -- enlightening rather than misleading your audience. I hope you will get hooked on the power of a statistical way of thinking. As data artist Martin Wattenberg of Google has said: "Visualization is a gateway drug to statistics." Download the data for this session from here, unzip the folder and place it on your desktop.