make-effective-data-visualization

Summary

The interaction of geography, pre-existing poverty, and the Great Recession is the subject of the visualization.

The recession increased the poverty rate most dramatically in the southeastern United States and this effect preceded the financial crash of 2007 by two years. There were some cities, including some in the midwest that had their poverty rates increase dramatically in the years 2003-2013; but this effect is not uniform.

Design

The chart type is a chlorpleth of the United States. The data is census data taken for all the counties of the United States. Color isused to encode the overall poverty rates and the rates for families with children in the age range 5-17. The color scale is chosen so that the data can be represented without clipping.

State boundaries are plotted on top of the county map because most users are much more familiar with state boundaries than they are with counties.

A radio group is placed above the map that allows users to choose to map data for each of the years between 2003 and 2013, inclusive. A second radio group allows users to choose between a map of the overall poverty rate and a map of the 5-17 age range poverty rate.

Below the radio groups is a color scale so that the colors make sense.

The counties in the maps are associated with tooltips to allow users to examine data in numeric form and to find the names of selected counties.

Some of the counties are geographically small; to see them users will need pan and zoom features. Mouse double click and mouse wheel motion controls the zoom. Mouse click and move control map pan.

After the first review, text was added that help fix the meaning of the two poverty rates that are encoded in the map. The color legend was made slightly larger and percent signs added to the numbers in the label. A description of the pan and zoom operations was also added; without it there is no way for a user to guess that pan and zoom is there.

No changes were made after the second review. The main takeaway from that review was a request to use more than one hue in the graphic.

The third reviewer did not like the title changing with user selections. I intended to add animation next and wanted the title to change. I took the comment to mean that meaning of the title change was not apparent. To emphasize the connection between the title and the graph, I moved the intervening text to the bottom of the display.

The third reviewer also wanted multiple hues in the color scheme. I resisted the temptation.

After the third review, map animation was added.

After the fourth review, the instructions on map use were changed to not use the word 'mouse'.

Feedback

Reviewer: Ian F.

What do you notice in the visualization?

I notice that you can see the poverty rate for both all ages, and for the age group 5 - 17 for any given year between 2003 and 2013. This data is broken up by county, and if you scroll over any county in the graphic, the data will follow the mouse cursor. If you double click, you can zoom in make sure you are selecting the correct county.

What questions do you have about the data?

The color range above that says "20 .....60" with the light to dark color rectangle...what does it represent exactly? I couldn't tell. Also, when you are scrolling over the different countys, the poverty rate is shown. I am assuming it is a percentage, but I wanted to double check. The State and County FIP shows too, but I am not sure what the purpose of this is. The county name, household income, and poverty rates are shown which and end user would be interested in, but I don't know how significant FIP really is... unless it relates to something else in the graphic that I am not seeing. Also, if I click on "5 - 17" for 2012, the screen is blank. You might want to take a look.

What relationships do you notice?

There is definitely a positive correlation between household income and poverty rate. Also, the poverty rate for the age group 5 - 17 is definitely higher than "all ages". I also notice much more darker coloration for the "5-17" group as the years get larger, but for "All Ages", it gets darker during the middle years, but a little lighter at the ends.

Is there something you don’t understand in the graphic?

As far as the poverty rate goes, is it possible to define "Poverty Rate"? I see that the graphic shows the poverty rate of all age groups, and a select age group of 5-17, but what exactly does that mean? Is there a dollar amount or household income that would encompass "poverty"? Also, is the poverty rate for the age groups for individuals or families? For example...if the poverty rate is 15.7 for "5-17", does that mean that 15.7% of kids between ages 5 and 17 live in poverty, or is it 15.7% of families with kids between 5-17 live in poverty? Its hard for me to wrap my head around a poverty rate for an age group 5-17, because when I think of poverty, I don't think of kids in poverty, I think of families with kids in poverty.

Reviewer: Neel K.

What do you notice in the visualization? First thing I notice is the poor choice of colors. It is golden-yellow to black. I would have preferred more red to blue or green. Second thing I notice is 5-17 demographic is disproportionately impacted by poverty.

What questions do you have about the data? Nothing really. I know that the census department does a good job with data.

What relationships do you notice? I notice how poverty is linked to the economy of the country. The Great Recession has exacerbated poverty rates...

What do you think is the main takeaway from this visualization?

Poor pockets seem to persist for a decade, regardless of the state of national economy.
Poverty impacts kids disproportionately.

Is there something you don’t understand in the graphic? Things seem to be clear...

Reviewer: Marie O.

Suggest to change the title to "Poverty Rate of the United States by County"
May be helpful to show the US overall poverty rate the bar graph is displaying with explicit number
Clever transference of data to display across the state, effective. 4 To add emphasis, may want to change the color chart to include oranges and reds.