Construction 2

Assignment 2

Construction 2

Due Date: April 17, 2007

Explore data relevant to global climate change available on the Many Eyes project site using provided visualization tools to create visualizations of public domain data. Create five very different visualizations by varying the design decisions. Your goal is to alter the interpretation of the data, demonstrating that visualization may not be an unbiased lens. Discuss your experiences and your results. The objectives of this assignment are:

Use a publically available visualization tool to create images
Explore the effects of design choice on message conveyed.
Analyze the images created and the tool used.

Many Eyes
Many Eyes is an experimental project in a social kind of data analysis. The site offers many data sets (many gleaned from public sources; others contributed by the public) and a variety of visualization techniques. Members of the community can visualize data, publish their visualizations, comment on the published visualizations of others, and upload new data.

The site can be found at: http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/manyeyes/home All services are available over the web, but your computer must have a very current version of Java. Java is really easy to install (just follow the links and answer the questions), but you need proper permissions on the machine you're using. If finding a properly equipped machine is a problem, let me know and I'll find you one to use.

There are several data sets available on Many Eyes that are relevant to global climate change. These include:

Emissions Data
COSTLIEST HURRICANES IN THE UNITED STATES 1900-1992
Global Temperature Anomaly and CO2 Density for 1872-2005
420,000 Years of CO2 Levels and Temp Dev: several forms, including
420,000 Years of CO2 Levels and Temp Dev - Reduced Numbered
Atmospheric CO2, January 1992 - March 2006, Mace Head, Ireland
CO2 Emissions Compared To Land Area
GHG emissions: 1990 vs 2008-2012
GHG emissions reduction targets
Temperature in The Bilt The Netherlands from 1706 to 2006 per month
Million Metric Tons of Carbon Dioxide
Selected National Air Pollutant Emissions by Type of Pollutant

Grading Standards
Images will be graded on effectiveness, originality, and distinctness. Discussions will be graded on quality of insights and content of analysis.

All text is expected to be in clear and correct English.

What to do and what to turn in

Choose at least two different data sets to try. Explore at least three different visualization techniques. Submit eight different visualizations of your data. These visualizations might use different color choices, different symbols, different scales or intervals, or different visualization techniques. Discuss each visualization (about a paragraph). Write a set of complete instructions on how to produce your two favorite visualizations. Discuss the ease of use and utility of the tool. Turn in a printed copy in class on the day due. If your images are in color and you do not have access to a color printer, also mail me a pdf copy of your report.