About Data Visualization

“Graphics reveal data.” -Edward Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Spreadsheets and other forms of structured data are readable to both humans and computers, which makes them valuable sources of analysis. But often, the size and scope of the data at hand can be so extensive that it is difficult for the viewer to understand exactly what the data is saying. What are the patterns in the data? What is the most important information to take away? The answers to these questions can be tricky and time-consuming to deduce. This is where visualization comes into play. Graphic representation can make data easier and quicker to evaluate, not to mention more aesthetically pleasing.

Data visualizations can be useful to create and analyze at any point in a research process. They may reveal answers to research questions, or prompt still more questions to be investigated. The APS Center for Digital Scholarship has created some preliminary visualizations using a software called Tableau Public, one of many options for crafting these graphic representations. We hope that the items below will spark inquiry and perhaps answer some questions about correspondence, citizenship, and daily life in colonial Philadelphia. What can you find?