Advanced Data Visualization

Presented by: Michael Scofield

After a review of our previous meeting about the basics of Data Visualization (Dec. 2012) we will explore some of the more complex issues of expressing complex business behavior in graphic form.  The review includes the five basic chart types, along with topics of normalization and the importance of context.   We will then look at more advanced concepts for the expression of metrics (such as cartograms, step functions, metrics which go negative, non-linear scales, and lineage charts).  We will discuss the importance of understanding volatility in a metric, and the expression of uncertainty and ambiguity.   Rankings can be misleading; we will show how.  Tree maps are useful, but heat maps can be dangerous.   We may look at using scatter diagrams to evaluate the correlation of market indexes.  If we have time, we will look at the expression of non-metric ideas, including VENN diagrams.

Speaker:

Michael Scofield, M.B.A. is an Asst. Professor of Health Informatics at Loma Linda University.   His experience includes banking, manufacturing, higher education, and software development.   For the past 17 years he has spoken widely to professional audiences around the U.S., Canada, and Australia and the U.K. on topics of data management, data visualization, data quality assessment, and data acquisition.  He has spoken several times for the Portland DAMA chapter, and before 23 other DAMA chapters around the country.  He has numerous articles published on these same topics, particularly on data quality assessment.

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