Data visualization has never been so prevalent. With the advances in technology that facilitate turning data into visually appealing and visually meaningful representations and the facility with which these are disseminated on the web, data analysts and common folk can tell the story of numbers through graphics.
Referencing the module readings, you will create a PowerPoint presentation about a specific community: a neighborhood or city, depending on the available supportive resources. Your analysis will focus on the population changes that have taken place within that community.
Consider this:
You are a longtime resident of community X and a Data Management consultant. Over the years and decades you have watched your neighborhood undergo noticeable changes in the population of residents. You have been hired by the City/Town to gather information about changes that have been occurring. Using your quantitative knowledge and data from Census you will deliver a 7-10 minute Powerpoint presentation at the City Council/Town Board meeting to tell citizens about the changes that occurred in the community.
STEP 1- CHOSEN CITY IS JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY
Select a community to analyze
A city/town/county
Neighborhoods are often difficult to target in the federal data, because they are usually unofficial boundaries, within a large metropolitan area (i.e. New York, Los Angeles, Boston)
However, the NYC boroughs are counties, which can be located in the federal data – if you want to write about a neighborhood within a borough, you are welcome to do so, noting when the data is borough level versus neighborhood level (email instructor with ?s)
STEP 2
Search the web for multiple (min 2) good media/news sources that provide supportive information about the population of the community (similar to the Harlem article from the module),
Keep in mind you will look at Census data for: 2000, 2010 and that you are writing about today
The sources should explain some of the population and community changes and characterize the residents’ take on the changes, etc.
STEP 3
Navigate American Fact Finder: US Census Bureau
Select your community (town, city, county)
Note: NYC Boroughs are Counties, i.e. Brooklyn = Kings County
Under2010 Census, you will see a link to "General Population and Housing Characteristics (Population, Age, Sex, Race, Households and Housing, ...)" - click that option/link
Select
Download
button to download and Excel Document
- Download the table to Excel and save (depending on your browser you may need to check your download folder or the bar at the bottom of your screen)
Repeatall stepsselecting the "General Population and HousingCharacteristics..." underCensus 2000
These two tables must be downloaded so that you may save data and work with statistics
The tables will also be submitted with your assignment
STEP 4
Explore the American Fact Finder to choose different combinations of data that interests you or that you have found intriguing during the search for the articles about the changes of demographic
The American Community Survey (ACS)
is not
the same as the Census, it is a survey, therefore, you should interpret the data as based on a Sample
not
as a Population (Module 1)
I recommend using Advanced Search.
Make sure to enter the state, country or town that you are researching. This way the data will be filtered by both the US and the municipality you are interested in.
Then you can enter the topic that you are interested in, for example: housing or education.
Make sure that you select data for 2010 and 2000 years. The American Fact Finder offers various surveys and estimations. Make sure to download the data.
Some of the topics that you may want to explore are:
Education Attainment 25 yoa+ (American Community Survey)
Income/Employment
Place of Birth/Citizenship/Ethnicity
Make sure that you account for
Sex
and
Race
For example: Your options: Education Attainment by Sex, Race / OR / Income-Employment by Sex, Race / OR / Citizenship-Nationality-et al by Sex, Race
STEP 5
Using the data and resources - Think critically and sociologically about populations and changes:
Could it be the result of changing immigration patterns?
Has the economy of the city improved?
Has there been a “gentrification” effect?
Be very mindful of all the possibilities to best investigate the supportive sources
STATISTICS – STEP 6
Using data from Step 3 for 2000 and 2010
Calculate Rate of Change as a Percent (Module 1 – Rate of Change multiplied by 100 to make it a percent) to assess change statistically for
Each Race under:
Race alone or in combination with one or more other races [3]
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Calculate the rate of change as a percent for at least 1 category of interest within each group:
Relationship
Household by Type
Housing Occupancy
MAPPING – STEP 9
Use Social Explorer through the Baruch Newman Library (databases) to create two (2) meaningful maps for your analysis (see video in the module 2)
The maps should be relevant to the story you are looking to tell
i.e. If you are writing about race, then the maps should be about race
Maps can be exported as image files that you can then add to your infographic
CHARTS – STEP 10
Use the Census or ACS Data to produce at least three (3) charts/graphs
Focus on demographic data
If you find information from sources about business influences on the population, make sure to cite these sources in the narrative
PowerPoint Presentation
Introduce yourself and provide brief overview of the community
Discuss the first impressions of the neighborhood
What from the data strikes you?
Walk the audience through a story of how the numbers tell this story of change.
Integrate the statistics meaningfully throughout the narrative
Use sources for supportive evidence – avoiding absolute causation; think
influence
See
Step 6
of Preparation
Optional: You may add qualitative knowledge you may have (i.e. quote from a parent or colleague who’s witnessed the changes over the decades), but avoid using prejudiced statements or sweeping generalizations
The PowerPoint should conclude with some language about the implications of population changes (positive/negative) for the given community
Are the changes good?
Will only time tell?
Why should we care about these changes?
The presentation should generally tell a story of change told by numbers and supported by critical analysis
Good preparation for the presentation includes having notes and outlines of what will be said during each slide. The students are expected to submit a MC Word or PDF document of the narration for the PowerPoint Presentation in the separate submission that will be checked for plagiarism.
ALL STUDENTS MUST SUBMIT A COPY OF THEIR NARRATIVE. No grade will be given without submission of the narrative of the presentation.
PowerPoint Expectations (standard):
At least 5 Data Visualizations should be present:
Charts/graphs (3 min)
Maps (2 min)
Data source footnotes –
all data sources must be listed in a footnote in small font at the bottom of the infographic
Informative
Streamlined design
Coherent and Clean (as opposed to crowded or messy)
Reference List
APA formatting
Remember:
Edit
your work before submitting it to ensure correct use of grammar, spelling and word choice, and a
cohesive narrative. Avoid simply responding to the guideline questions in succession; your presentation should form a narrative guided by the questions above. This means that in addition to your work being accurate it should “read” smoothly in your unique analytical voice.