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Computers and the humanities

Lecture 3
Visualizing data

Dr Miguel Escobar Varela 1

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Learning Objectives

1. To describe the main types of visualizations

used today
2. To identify different approaches to data
visualization
3. To identify the potential for bias in
visualizations
4. To offer critical perspectives on data
visualization
 Lecture 3
Visualizing data

Part 1: Most common scientific data visualizations today

To describe the main types of

visualizations used today
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What is a visualization?

Representing numerical and categorical data with graphical elements (color, shape, position, size)

What is it useful for?

- To give an overview of the data

- As a first step for further research

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Charts in this session

Boxplots
Barplots
Lineplots
Scatterplots
Histograms
KDE plots
Violinplots
Joint plots

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Boxplot

Description of a univariate distribution (one variable)

For this toy example: number of actors required for a theatre play

1st quartile =

Median =

3rd quartile =

Minimum =

Maximum =

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Boxplot (Outliers)

1.5 x IQR
Calculating outliers using Tukey’s rule
IQR = 75th percentile - 25th percentile

1st quartile = 8.5

Median = 10

3rd quartile = 11.5

Minimum = 3

Maximum = 17

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Categories in boxplots

How many variables are

represented in this graph?

variables
1. days of the week
2. bill size

categories
1. smoke or not

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Standard deviation in bar charts

Measure of the dispersion of the data

Square root of the variance
Variance is the average of the squared differences from the
mean

Mean =

Variance =

Standard Deviation =

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Standard deviation in lineplots

Consider this example of

actors in plays over time

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Scatterplot

Shows the numerical relationship

between two variables. Color can
be used to indicate categorical
variables.

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Scatterplot

Shows the relationship between two variables.

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Scatterplot

Shows the numerical relationship between two variables. Color can be use categorical variables.

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Histogram

Each bar groups numbers into

ranges. Taller bars show that more
data falls in that range. It displays
the shape and spread of the data.

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Histogram

Consider this example of stars given to films in a group of reviews.

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Histogram (relative frequency)

Consider this example of stars given to films in a group of reviews.

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Histogram (relative frequency)

Consider this example of stars given to films in a group of reviews.

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Histogram (bin size)

Consider this example of stars given to films in a group of reviews.

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Histogram

https://tinlizzie.org/histograms/
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Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) plots

Closely related to histograms. They show a

smoothed representation of the data
distribution.

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Violinplot

Another visual representation of

the 5-number summary but also
represents the distribution of
values, in a way similar to a
KDE.

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Jointplots

Combined scatterplot with

regression line, confidence
interval, histogram and KDE.

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Pairplots

Scatterplots and KDE of

multiple variables for the
same samples.

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 Lecture 3
Visualizing data

Part 2: Different approaches to Data Visualization

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William Playfair (1759-1823)

From The Commercial and Political Atlas; Representing, by Means of Stained Copper-Plate
Charts, the Exports, Imports, and General Trade of England, at a Single View (1785)
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John Snow (1813-1858)

John Snow’s map of cholera outbreaks and wells (1854)

Digital version by Robin Wilson (2013)
http://blog.rtwilson.com/john-snows-cholera-data-in-more-formats/

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Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

‘Coxcom’ (polar area graph) visualization of the cause of death in the army (1850s
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Crimea War)
*preventable causes, wounds, accidents
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Charles Joseph Minard (1781-1870)

Napoleon’s March to Moscow (published 1869)

Beginning at the Polish-Russian border, the thick band shows the size of the army at each position. 28
The path of Napoleon's retreat from Moscow is depicted by the dark lower band, which is tied to
temperature and time scales.
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The scatterplot

First graphic representation of interquartile range boxes.

*This is a reconstruction based on
data from Herschell’s 1833 paper, “On
the Investigation of the Orbits of
Revolving Double Stars” by Friendly
and Denis (2005).

Sir John Frederick William

Herschel (1972-1871)

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The scatterplot

Francis Galton’s (1986)

smoothed correlation
diagram for the data on
heights of parents and
children, showing one ellipse
of equal frequency.

Francis Galton (1822-1911)

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The ‘Infoviz’ Approach

Statisticians often disagree with a type of visualization aesthetic common in the news, which was most
influential developed by Nigel Holmes, while working for TIME magazine in the 1970s.

*as we’ll see later, this is the kind of graph that Tufte would classify as ‘chartjunk’

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Additional resources

https://exhibits.stanford.edu/dataviz 32
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Exploratory data analysis (EDA)

Theorized by John Tukey (1915-2000).

Visualizations are often central to EDA.
Often includes statistical information (error bars, confidence intervals, standard deviation)
Many different visualizations with shared axes.

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Modern scientific approach to dataviz

Edward Tufte:
Against “chartjunk”
Popularized sparklines.
Famous for several concepts:
lie factor, the data-ink ratio (against decoration), small multiples and
the data density of a graphic.

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What’s the purpose?

To grab attention?
To show trends?
To help scientists analyze data?

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 Lecture 3
Visualizing data

Part 3: Sources of bias in data visualization

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Axis Cropping

Kendall Fortney, “5 Ways Data Visualizations can Lie”, Towards data science,
https://towardsdatascience.com/5-ways-data-visualizations-can-lie-46e54f41de37

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Axis Scalling

Ravi Parikh, ‘How to lie with data visualization’,

Gizmodo, 2014,
https://gizmodo.com/how-to-lie-with-data-visualization-15
63576606

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Axis Scaling

Kendall Fortney, “5 Ways Data Visualizations can Lie”, Towards data science,
https://towardsdatascience.com/5-ways-data-visualizations-can-lie-46e54f41de37 39
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The problem of pie charts

The green slice is actually equal to a quarter

of the yellow one, and pink is a third of the
value of the purple slice

Maryland is bigger than the others (by 3%). The 3D effect visually
adds more volume to NH, tricking your eyes. Without labels telling
the percentages there would be little to no chance of accurately
guessing it.

Kendall Fortney, “5 Ways Data Visualizations can Lie”, Towards data science,
https://towardsdatascience.com/5-ways-data-visualizations-can-lie-46e54f41de37 40
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The problem of pie charts

The green slice is actually equal to a quarter of the

yellow one, and pink is a third of the value of the purple
slice

Which is bigger? If you choose New Hampshire you would be wrong, it

was actually Maryland. The 3D affect visually adds more volume to that
slice, tricking your eyes. Without labels telling the percentages there
would be little to no chance of accurately guessing it.

People tend to underestimate the size of acute

angles (<90°) and overestimate the size of obtuse
ones (>90°) (Nundy et al, 2000, text at 41
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC25873/)
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The problem of pie charts

Walt Hickey, “The Worst Chart In

The World”, Business Insider,
2013,
https://www.businessinsider.com/
pie-charts-are-the-worst-2013-6

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Multiple dimensions

Nathan Yau, How to Spot Visualization

Lies, Flowingdata, 2017,
https://flowingdata.com/2017/02/09/how-t
o-spot-visualization-lies/

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Values not normalized

Chiqui Esteban, ‘A Quick Guide to

Spotting Graphics That Lie, National
Geographic, May 2015,
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/06/1
50619-data-points-five-ways-to-lie-with-charts/

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Spurious correlations

Linecharts tend to suggest correlation

http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations 45
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Even good graphics tell different stories

Cabanski, C., Gilbert, H., & Mosesova, S. (2018). Can Graphics Tell Lies? A Tutorial on How
To Visualize Your Data. Clinical and translational science, 11(4), 371–377.
doi:10.1111/cts.12554

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Raw data, not just summary statistics

Nine data sets with equivalent

summary statistics. Each data set
has the same x mean (54.26), y
mean (47.83), x SD (16.76), y SD
(26.93), and Pearson correlation
coefficient ( −0.06). The nine distinct
patterns show the importance of
plotting the raw data rather than only
displaying summary statistics or
models.

Cabanski, C., Gilbert, H., &

Mosesova, S. (2018). Can
Graphics Tell Lies? A Tutorial on
How To Visualize Your Data.
Clinical and translational science,
11(4), 371–377.
doi:10.1111/cts.12554
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List of caveats

https://www.data-to-viz.com/caveats.html
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 Lecture 3
Visualizing data

Part 4: critical perspectives on data visualization

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Alternative modes

A basic bar chart compares the

number of men (top bar) and
the number of women (bottom
bar) in seven different nations,
A through F, at the present time
(2010). The assumptions are
that quantities (number),
entities (nations), identities
(gender) and temporality (now)
are all self-evident. Graphic
credit Xárene Eskandar.

Drucker (2011)

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Alternative modes

In this chart gendered identity is

modified. In nation A, the top bar
contains a changing gradient,
indicating that “man” is a continuum
from male infant to adult, or in
countries E and D, gender ambiguity
is displayed.

In country F women only register as

individuals after coming of
reproductive age, thus showing that
quantity is a effect of cultural
conditions, not a self-evident fact.

The movement of men back and forth

across the border of nations B and C
makes the “nations” unstable entities.
Graphic credit Xárene Eskandar.

Drucker (2011)
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Two geographical visualizations

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Hepword and Church (2011)
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Two geographical visualizations

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Hepword and Church (2011)
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Two geographical visualizations

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Hepword and Church (2011)
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Two geographical visualizations

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Each visualization tells a story

By Nathan Yau

“Let the data speak.” It’s a common saying

for chart design. The premise — strip out the
bits that don’t help patterns in your data
emerge — is fine, but people often
misinterpret the mantra to mean that they
should make a stripped down chart and let
the data take it from there.

You have to guide the conversation though.

You must help the data focus and get to the
point. Otherwise, it just ends up rambling
about what it had for breakfast this morning
and how the coffee wasn’t hot enough.

https://flowingdata.com/2017/01/24/one-data
set-visualized-25-ways/

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Jer Thorp

Collection → Computation → Representation

This formula is too simplistic

Whenever you look at data — as a spreadsheet or database view or a visualization, you are looking at [a
system]. What this diagram doesn’t capture is the immense branching of choice that happens at each
step along the way. As you make each decision — to omit a row of data, or to implement a particular
database structure or to use a specific color palette you are treading down a path through this wild, tall
grass of possibility. It will be tempting to look back and see your trail as the only one that you could have
taken, but in reality a slightly divergent you who’d made slightly divergent choices might have ended up
somewhere altogether different. To think in data systems is to consider all three of these stages at once
[...] (Thorp 2017)

https://medium.com/@blprnt/you-say-data-i-say-system-54e84aa7a421

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Ways of Seeing Data

● Book chapter: Gray et al (2016) “Ways of Seeing Data: Toward a Critical

Literacy for Data Visualizations as Research Objects and Research Devices” [in
LumiNUS].
● Checklist of questions for analyzing visualizations
● Influenced by John Berger’s Ways of Seeing (1972), which emphasized political
and cultural histories of how images are produced and consumed.
● Objective: developing a critical literacy of visualization.
● There is no ‘neutral’ option, every type of visualization reflects ‘narrative
regimes’ (ideas of what stories should be told, and how they should be told)
● 3 forms of mediation:
○ World ⇢ data
○ Data ⇢ image
○ Image ⇢ eye

● Culturally and historically specific ‘ways of seeing’ that reflect values, cultures,
aesthetics and prejudices.

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World ⇢ data

• What information and data are being represented in the visualization?

• What are the sources for this information? Where do the data come from?
(is it cited?)
• How are the data generated? What are the rationales, methods, and
standards inscribed in the data infrastructures through which the
data are generated?
• How are the data transformed or prepared?
• Which data sources are combined and how?
• How do the data selectively prioritize certain things over others?

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Data ⇢ image

• How are the data mediated into graphical form?

• What kinds of graphical techniques, methods, and technologies have
been used?
• What are their affordances? what does the data enable you to “do”, what
stories can you tell with it) How do they guide our attention toward
different aspects of the data?
• What design decisions have been taken? What are their consequences?

Try to reverse-engineer the visualizations: what steps were taken to

produce them?

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Image ⇢ eye

• What kinds of visual cultures and practices are implicated or reflected

in the data visualization? Where do these come from?
• What forms of usage are inscribed in the visualization? Who are the
publics of the data visualization? How is it circulated, cited, and
shared?

Visual cultures - what are they and where do they come from?

How are visualizations used, circulated, cited and shared?

Denaturalize - historicize (every visual “idea” comes from somewhere)

Find the genealogy of the visualization styles

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Other takeaways from this chapter

Data infrastructures
Visualization devices, rather than ‘tools’ (they emphasize world-making)
‘Communicative objectivity’ Halpern
Tufte advocates: championing efficiency and parsimony, maximizing the
‘data–ink’ ratio, and eliminating ‘chartjunk’

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For the individual assignment

Choose a data visualization and analyze it using the perspectives seen in

this chapter. It is strongly recommended that you use the checklist in Gray’s
chapter.

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Individual assignment (20%)

A 1000 word analysis of a data visualization (it doesn’t need to be a

humanities data visualization, but you must use critical data perspectives,
as explained in Lectures #2 and #3).

You must explain the computational thinking process that led to this
project: how data was modeled, which aspects of the analysis were
automated, and what output was produced. You should also explain what
are the potential blind spots and limitations of the project.

File format: one file with your name clearly stated in the body of the text
(5 marks will be deducted if this missing). For citations, please use the
Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition, Author-Date format. Do not cite
academic journals is if they were websites.

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Where to find graphs to analyze?

1) The media. You can analyze examples that you consider to be

successful or problematic from web pages, social media and news
sources.
2) Digital Scholarship in the Humanities https://academic.oup.com/dsh
(Access provided via NUS libraries).
3) Ideally you shouldn’t choose a scientific data visualization from
natural science publications, where visualization practices are more
standardized. You want a visualization of a ‘less settled’ area, in
connection to the social and cultural world.

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That’s it for today

https://xkcd.com/688/

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References

Drucker, Johanna. 2011. “Humanities Approaches to Graphical Display.” Digital Humanities Quarterly 005 (1).
Hepworth, Katherine, and Christopher Church. 2019. “Racism in the Machine: Visualization Ethics in Digital Humanities
Projects.” Digital Humanities Quarterly 012 (4).
Gray, Jonathan, Liliana Bounegru, Stefania Milan, and Paolo Ciuccarelli. 2016. “Ways of Seeing Data: Toward a Critical
Literacy for Data Visualizations as Research Objects and Research Devices.” In Innovative Methods in Media and
Communication Research, edited by Sebastian Kubitschko and Anne Kaun, 227–51. Cham: Springer International
Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40700-5_12.
Thorp, Jer. 2017. “You Say Data, I Say System.” Hacker Noon. July 13, 2017.
https://hackernoon.com/you-say-data-i-say-system-54e84aa7a421.
Friendly, Michael and Daniel Denis. “The early origins and development of the scatterplot.” Journal of the History of the
Behavioral Sciences, 41(2), 103–130.
Nundy, Surajit et al. 2000. “Why are angles misperceived?”. Proc Natl Acad Sci 97(10): 5592–5597.

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