Effective Data Visualization ─ The Right Chart for the Right Data

Effective Data Visualization: The Right Chart for the Right Data is an easy-to-implement guide that readers can use to quickly determine the best chart type to use, and the best way to format the chart to make their research more useful. The book will include familiar and new graph types, all of which can be made easily, primarily in Excel. Stephanie D. H. Evergreen includes step-by-step instructions with screenshots, and will feature before and after examples of data displays, evaluated through the author’s Data Visualization Checklist. Chapters are organized by the kind of stories that can be told about a data set, relying on common research questions and presentation intentions. The chapters will also include categorization by data purpose, using language students see in survey software, such as “rating scale” and other common data collection categories, like “demographics.” Each graph will include a description of the circumstances when the graph type works and when it doesn’t. In sum, readers will be able to immediately implement the ideas in the book to vastly improve their ability to communicate their data, and the book will remain a useful reference guide after the first reading.