6: Breather

There is no discussion this week and you have one brief task. I will be available during our regular Wednesday meeting time, but you should feel free to take this week as a break if you need it, work ahead, or review.

Your only task this week is to make a proposal for your final project. As we think about our final projects, everyone should read Chapter 29, “Telling a Story and Making a Point” of Fundamentals of Data Visualization. This will help you conceptualize your final project. Review the final project requirements for an overview and links to some example projects from previous courses and around the internet.

Make a post here on the course blog using both the existing Portfolios category and a new category like “Portfolio: YourLastName” or however you want to be identified on the course blog. For example, my portfolio category could be Portfolio: Kane or Portfolio: MKane. You don’t have to use your full or real name for this, but do keep track of what your portfolio category is for the rest of the semester, because we will be using it to post progress reports for our final projects.

In your post, identify one to three datasets you’re interested in using for the final project. Look through our data critique sheet for data of interest to you, and remember that you can use more than one data set if it makes sense. (And remember that you can extend your data!) If you’re thinking about using your own data, you can also combine or compare it with data I’ve provided as well, but you don’t have to.

If you’re interested in one or more of the datasets I’ve provided, post the citations for them. If you’re thinking about using data you already have or plan to acquire, post a link to the csv of it on your github (if you’ve already got it) or a link to a sample record or the API documentation if you plan on downloading it. More than one person can work on the same data set, so don’t worry if someone’s already named a dataset you’re thinking of using. You can change your mind about what data you want to use later, but I want an idea of your interests now so I can make suggestions to make your life easier down the road.

Any project that doesn’t use data I’ve provided require my explicit written approval before moving forward. This is to save you headaches down the road. I will email you individually to let you know if the project is approved or if there are issues with your plan. Remember that I will not approve projects that require transcription. If you want to use your own data, I will not approve the project unless I can look at the data.

After you identify your dataset/s, describe what drew you to them. What are some questions you want to ask of them? List at least three question you think your data can answer. (If you’re listing more than one dataset, you only need three questions total).

Finally, if you think you might want to do a group project, look through others’ posts from Module 5 on the kinds of work they enjoy, and others’ portfolio posts. Think about who is interested in similar questions but enjoys different kinds of work than you do, and consider a group project with them. (I will also be making suggestions once everyone has posted this week). You do not need to do a group project, but in past courses, group projects have been able to be more ambitious than single-author projects. We will talk in Module 9 about some project planning tools if you do decide on a group project.