Lecture 29

Team Project

Byeong-Hak Choe
bchoe@geneseo.edu

SUNY Geneseo

November 20, 2024

Data Storytelling Project

Craft a Compelling Narrative Using Data

  • Tell a Story, Not Just Show Numbers:
    • Data storytelling goes beyond presenting facts.
    • A narrative connects the data to real-world insights, engages the audience, and makes the findings memorable.
    • Identify a central theme or question your data addresses.
    • Frame the story around a problem, trend, or decision-making process.
    • Use storytelling elements like cause and effect, conflict, and resolution.

Craft a Compelling Narrative Using Data

  • Explain “Why It Matters”:
    • Highlight the significance of the data.
    • Relate findings to real-world scenarios or challenges.
    • Address questions like:
      • What does this mean? How does it impact the audience or stakeholders?
  • Leverage Background Knowledge
    • Understand the Context of Your Data:
      • Research the topic or industry related to your data.
      • Know key concepts, definitions, and common trends.
      • Example: If analyzing sales data, understand seasonal patterns, market dynamics, and customer behavior.

Craft a Compelling Narrative Using Data

  • Ask Meaningful Questions:
    • Background knowledge allows you to formulate insightful questions to guide your analysis, such as:
      • Why is this trend happening?
      • What factors contribute to this outcome?
      • What actionable insights can be derived?
  • Bridge Data and Audience Understanding:
    • Background knowledge helps translate complex data into insights that are accessible to your audience.
    • It allows you to anticipate questions and provide thoughtful answers.

Data Transformation Techniques

  • Make Data Work for Your Story:
    • Use filtering, sorting, counting, and selecting to refine raw data.
      • Filtering: Narrow down data to specific conditions/categories
      • Sorting: Arrange data in a particular order
      • Counting: Quantify occurrences or frequencies
      • Selecting: Choose specific variables of interest
    • Focus on data points that align with your narrative.
  • Feel free to get data transformation support from Byeong-Hak

Data Visualization

  • Types of Data Visualizations
    • Bar Charts: Compare quantities across categories
    • Line Graphs: Show trends over time
    • Scatter Plots: Display relationships between two numerical variables
    • Histograms: Illustrate distributions of numerical data
    • Box Plots: Summarize distributions and identify outliers
  • Feel free to use any other types of data visualizations.

Data Visualization

  • Best Practices
    • Ensure visuals are clear, properly labeled, and easy to interpret
    • Use appropriate chart types for the data being presented
    • Maintain consistency in styling and formatting
    • Make visualization colorblind-friendly

Getting Started

  1. Identify Variables of Interest
    • Select variables that are relevant to your story
    • Understand the context and meaning of each variable
  2. Use Descriptive Statistics
    • Summarize data using measures like mean, median, and mode
    • Calculate measures of variability such as range, variance, and standard deviation
    • Identify any outliers or anomalies in the data
    • Gain initial insights into central tendencies and dispersion

Visualizing Data

  1. Examine Distributions
    • Analyze how data points are spread across different values
    • Utilize histograms and box plots to visualize distributions
  2. Explore Relationships Between Variables
    • Investigate how variables interact with each other
    • Use scatterplots and fitted lines
  3. Analyze Time Trends
    • Observe changes in variables over time
    • Implement line charts and/or fitted lines to illustrate trends

Delving Deeper

  • Distribution by Categories
    • Compare how distributions vary across different groups or categories
    • Employ faceted histograms or box plots for comparison
  • Relationships by Categories
    • Examine if relationships between variables differ among groups
    • Use color-coded scatter plots or facets to highlight differences
  • Time Trends by Categories
    • Analyze temporal trends within specific categories
    • Create multiple line charts for each category

Incorporating Visual Aids

  • Enhancing Your Story with Images
    • Insert pictures or graphics related to your narrative
    • Use images to provide context or evoke emotions
  • Types of Visual Aids
    • Photographs
    • Illustrations
    • Diagrams
    • Infographics (non-data-related)
  • Guidelines
    • Ensure images are relevant and add value to your presentation
    • Use high-quality visuals that are clear and professional
    • Cite sources if using images that are not your own

Crafting Your Story

  • Provide Background Information
    • Set the stage with necessary context and explanations
    • Explain the significance and relevance of your topic
  • Narrative Structure
    • Introduction: Present your main question or objective
    • Body: Walk through your analysis step by step
    • Conclusion: Summarize key findings and insights

Presentation Tips

  • Clarity and Simplicity
    • Use straightforward language appropriate for your audience
    • Avoid unnecessary jargon or technical terms without explanation
    • Start with a background story if needed
  • Engagement
    • Incorporate visual aids to make your story more engaging
    • Highlight interesting or unexpected findings
  • Practice
    • Rehearse to maintain flow and timing
    • Anticipate potential questions and prepare responses

Let’s Get Started!

  • Be Creative
    • Think innovatively in your analysis and presentation methods
  • Stay Curious
    • Let your questions and hypotheses drive your data exploration
  • Have Fun
    • Enjoy the process of discovering insights and telling your data story