Blog

Data Visualization Stephen Tracy Data Visualization Stephen Tracy

Communicating Data & The Rise of the Empirical Storyteller

Statistics are often not enough to convince a boardroom full of people to believe in and pursue a particular course of action. Data, no matter how objective it is in reflecting a truth, is only one piece of the puzzle as you need to consider how to effectively communicate what the data means. Storytelling is the key to getting your ideas to resonate and is a focus that hasn't been thoroughly explored yet in the analytics industry. 

Read More
Data Visualization Stephen Tracy Data Visualization Stephen Tracy

Should Chart Y-Axis Baselines Always be Zero? Context is Everything

Matt Yglesias and Johnny Harris over at Vox recently posted a great video about a rather contentious issue when it comes to storytelling and data. That is, whether or not you should always set Y-axis baselines in bar or line charts to zero. I’ve written about this a few times in the past and I wanted to take a moment to add a few points to the debate.

Read More
Data Visualization Stephen Tracy Data Visualization Stephen Tracy

Jason Chaffetz's Impossible Chart & Some DataViz Sins You Should Never Commit

So there’s a chart making the rounds in the media right now that was used by U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), the chair of the House Oversight Committee, during a senate hearing with Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards. The chart Chaffetz presented offers some valuable lesson in how data can be visually manipulated to deceive, and how we can all be better communicators with data.

Read More