JRNL 3165 - Assignment #2: Data Update 1

Question 1. "What dataset will you use for your final report?  (title of your dataset, include a link to it and claim it at  the URL above)."

 Answer: For the final project I will be using the dataset "Intersection Safety Camera Violation Tickets by  Location". This dataset is from the BC Data Catalogue. The link to access the data is listed below:   https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/intersection-safety-camera-violation-tickets-by-locationa Catalogue (gov.bc.ca)

Question 2. Describe the dataset. What kind of data does it contain?

 Answer: The dataset includes the intersection location for the traffic camera. The data is also split into two different types of tickets. The first one being "Red Light Violations" and the other being "Speed Violation". The dataset finally includes the municipality of where the intersection is located. The data is broken into numbers, which showcases the number of tickets that have been given at that location. This dataset begins in 2019.  

Question 3: Is there anything about the dataset that you don't understand? (i.e. what a column heading means). How will you find this out?

Answer: Currently the dataset is very clear, the column headings are very clear. The headings clearly show what data is in that column. The only issue I have is that I am unsure if the totals for the tickets include both a speeding ticket and a red light violation. I will look into ICBC's website to see if you get tickets for both or just one. This is the only concern with the data I have at the moment.  

 Question 4: What are some questions you hope to answer with your data? List at least three. (you don't need the answers at this point.)

Answer: Currently, the three questions that I have for my data are the following: 

1. Which intersection has the most red-light tickets. Why is that intersection?
2. Since the speed cameras are fairly new, why did they choose only those intersections to place them in? 
3. Which municipalities have the most offenses? 

     

        

JRNL 3165 - Assignment #1: Data Visualization Analysis

 

"The Changing Nature of Middle-Class Jobs annotated"

As one piece this graph does a poor job of explaining the data that it references. This chart gives a rough idea of how job trends have changed for certain fields over time. The graph has two different colors that signify male and female. 

This graphic does not correctly show data at first glance. It's hard to make out the scale that the system is using. Also, it's not clear on the bottom of the +/- on the data. I find that the graph's scale could be more scaled. This is pointed out where its a major gap in the data, and one goes higher than the other.  I also find it hard to ask a simple question, such as "What major changes were observed from 1980 till 2012".

Below are some things that could make this graph be more clear:

• In annotation "A", it shows the number of job changes as a single number, while the scale goes by 1000, so for example 20 means 20,000. Also since each section has multiple lines, it's unclear now which profession has got an increase in jobs. 
• Annotation "B" shows both a -/+  under the job info, I find this confusing as the graph goes up and down in each category. I wish they had used a more clear indication that the graph was going up or down in that section.
• Lastly, annotation "C" uses a scale to indicate "red" being female(s) and "blue" is for male(s). The part in the middle of the legend is not clear if it is showing the split between female and male. I wish that this was more clear, so if someone was looking at this graph, they would find it hard to figure. 

Overall, I think the visualization looks really nice and organized in a nice to read format. Since the graph uses different colors to distringuish the differences it makes the graph more clear to read at a glance, it also gathers your attention more quickly. This graph is interactive, which I something that I enjoy, as you can hover your mouse cursor over each line to see what job that line refers to. Lastly, I feel that this graph gives you a good overview of the major job sectors and each of the jobs that fall in that section. I think the visual is very good but it does need some improvements made to make it easier to read.