DS415a
From data to knowledge: interpretation, visualization, presentation
Faculty
Juan Galeano
Researcher at the Center for Demographic Studies (CED) in Barcelona, Spain
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
We live in a data-driven world. The technological revolution has made it easier to generate and collect data on the most diverse areas of our personal, social and/or professional life. Data, and its interpretation, allows us to make decisions, come up with ideas, identify trends and support (or shatter!) our beliefs. In this course, we will learn some efficient ways of visualizing data to make sense of it and to communicate our findings with others, be it through a research paper, a corporate meeting, or a landing webpage. We will also approach data critically in order to be able to identify their shortcomings and strengths.
Learning highlights
- Participants of this course will be able to choose the right visual representation depending on the type of questions they want to answer with data.
- The students will understand why some particular form of data presentation is more efficient within some context and will be familiarized with the tools of visual data exploration and presentation, including dynamic/interactive visualization.
Course outline
10 classes
Session 1
- Presentation of the course: goals, assignments and evaluation
- Brief introduction to the history of data visualization
- Exercise 1: Critic comment of the article “Graphics with a cause”
Session 2
- Into the void: Data collection processes Types of variables Dataset formats: width vs long Where to get data?
- Exercise 2: Building data infrastructures using pivot tables
Session 3
- The Visual Mind: how visual perception works? Main goals of data visualization Data visualization vs Information design
- Exercise 3: Critic comment of the article “Feminist Data Visualization”
Session 4
- Types of graphs: pros and contras
- Basic elements of a graph
- Line Plots
- Barplots
- Barplots: Population Pyramids
- Barplots: Alluvial plots
- Scatterplots
- Boxplots
- Polar plots
- Exercise 4: Building some basic graphs using ggplot2
Session 5
- Matching data and graphs Definition of datasets for final projects
- Exercise 5: Short questionnaire on the contents of the first week
Session 6
- Daily sins of data visualization
- The data visualization toolbox
Session 7
- From static to interactive visualizations Data Dashboards: Tableau, Shiny, datawrapper, Plotly
Session 8
- From static to interactive visualizations Data Dashboards: Tableau, Shiny, datawrapper, Plotly
Session 9
- Project discussion We help each other prepare a great project presentation
Session 10
- Projects presentation
- Summary of the course
- Farewell brindis with Cava
Course materials
Books
Prerequisites
Basics of working with data (e.g. spreadsheet software, R, python pandas).
Basics of statistics (mean, median, variance, regression).
Basics of programming (preferably R or Python).
Methodology
Learning-by-doing activities
Theoretical lectures
Grading
Juan Galeano is a researcher at the Center for Demographic Studies (CED) in Barcelona, Spain, where he is currently responsible for Data Infrastructures within the Intergenerational Coresidence in Global Perspective: Dimensions of Change (CORESIDENCE) project, supported by an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council. He is also the co-principal investigator of the project Bringing Social and Computational Sciences Together: Unravelling Household Composition and Change through the Implementation of the First World-Scale Multilevel Analysis, a collaborative initiative between CED and the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC). Previously, Juan was a postdoctoral researcher at the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) in Geneva, Switzerland. He holds a PhD in Demography, and his research lies at the intersection of demography, human geography, and sociology. Juan is passionate about spatial data, digital cartography, and open-source technologies.
See full profileApply for this course
From data to knowledge: interpretation, visualization, presentation
by Juan Galeano
Total hours
30 Hours
Dates
Aug 22 - Sep 02, 2022
Fee for single course
€1500
Fee for degree students
€750
How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.