Working from the BU Housing Dataset, create an original infographic that tells an interesting story about some particular group of Boston University students: where they come from, where they live on campus, what schools they attend. You may choose to contrast two groups, or focus on characterizing the variety of students within a single group.
In characterizing a group, you may choose to combine two categories of data: defining “West Campus” as consisting of X, Y, Z dorms, or “the Midwest” as consisting of A, B, C states.
To isolate a group for data analysis, you will need to delete rows from the data set, leaving just the people from a particular BU College or a particular dorm or set of dorms. To do so, alphabetize the data by column, select rows and delete them.
To create a graph or map, you will likely need to count the total # of students who are in each college, or from each state. I showed you how to do this in Lecture using the “COUNTIF” function. If you missed lecture, get notes from a friend.
Useful sites for creating graphics:
- Graphs/Charts: piktochart
- Maps: OpenHeatMap | TargetMap
Your finished graphic should tell a story about students at BU—not in words so much as by bringing the data to life. But do use words, sparingly, to ensure we know what we’re looking at: title, labels, etc. And don’t forget to consider the role of color in shaping the viewer’s response.
Finally, and in addition, write 1 page account critiquing and explaining the choices you made in creating this infographic. Give a short ¶ to each of the following topics:
- what group(s) you chose to focus on and why;
- the principal challenge you faced in transforming raw data into your graphic and how you overcame it;
- what choices you made in crafting the finished product.