1.0 - Critique and recommendations
Critique the interactive data visualization from its clarity, aesthetics and interactivity.
1.1 Clarity
| S/N | Comments | Suggested Improvements |
|---|---|---|
| C1 | Regarding the points plotted on the map visual, it is not clear if it represents the number of events, or the number of fatalities. | Indicate explicitly in the title of the map visual whether the data being visualized refers to number of events or fatalities. |
| C2 | The datapoints plotted on the map are of constant size, which does not provide much information on the scale or impact of the event. | Scale the size of the points by the value, whether it is the number of events or fatalities. |
| C3 | While the various line plots help to denote the trend across the years, users are not able to gauge the breakdown of the scale of various events in relation to each other. | To plot the various event types on a single plot. This allows users to have a sense of which events are major and minor contributors across the time period. |
| C4 | The source of data and any references are not cited. | Include the citations and references at the bottom of the dashboard. |
| C5 | While the user is able to self-explore and find certain granular insights, there is a lack of ‘big picture’ statistics available to provide some context. | Include high-level key statistics based on the filters applied on the dashboard. |
1.2 Aesthetics
| S/N | Comments | Suggested Improvements |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | For the various data points on the map, it is unclear if that specific event had any fatalities or not. | Introduce point symbols, where a circle denotes an event without any fatalities, and a cross denotes the presence of fatalities for that recorded event. |
| A2 | There are no vertical gridlines present on the line plot. When more years are selected, this could make it tougher for the user to interpret the chart. | Add dotted vertical grid lines to aid the user in interpreting the chart, especially when making sense of the trend across many years. |
1.3 Interactivity
| S/N | Comments | Suggested Improvements |
|---|---|---|
| I1 | Apart from some basic filters, the view is rather static. Users are unable to change the visualization based on other factors. | Include parameters and other filters for users to be able to play around and explore further. |
| I2 | Hovering over the various data points on both the map and line plots reveals only basic tooltips. Users are unable to get further meaningful information or context to drill further into. | Add graphs embedded into the tooltips when hovering over the various datapoints. |
2.0 - The proposed visualization
Suggest alternative data visualization and interactive techniques to improve the current design.
The original dataset can be found here: https://acleddata.com/#/dashboard
3.0 - The final visualization
Using Tableau, design the proposed data visualization.
Go to the following link for the live Tableau dashboard: https://public.tableau.com/profile/ng.wee.kien#!/vizhome/DataVizMakeover3_16160632810700/ArmedConflictDashboard?publish=yes
4.0 - Steps to create the visualization
Provide step-by-step description on how the data visualization was prepared.
Part 1: Preparing the data and fields required
Drag the source data .csv file into tableau to import it in.
Create a parameter: Conflict Impact Type. This will allow us to toggle between showing Events, or Fatalities as data points on the visualizations.
Create calculated field: Event Count. This has a fixed value of 1.
Create calculated field: Selected Impact Type. This allows us to use it in conjunction with the previously created parameter.
- Create calculated field: Number of Calendar Days. This provides us with the number of calendar days in the chosen number of years.
- Create calculated field: Days with events. This counts the unique number of calendar days in the period which had events.
- Create calculated field: % Proportion of days with events. This provides us with a ratio of how often there were events happening during the selected period. Go on to change the number formatting to Percentage, with 0 decimal points.
- Create calculated field: Average Events per Calendar Day. This provides us with the average number of events per Calendar day in the chosen period.
- Create calculated field: Average Fatalities per Calendar Day. This provides us with the average number of fatalities per Calendar day in the chosen period.
- Create calculated field: Fatalities Present Shape. This will be used for point symbols in the map visual later, with values of 1 indicating fatalities were present in that event, and 0 otherwise.
- Create calculated field: 1 or 2 sided event. This will be used as a filter later, where the presence of Actor2 indicates it was a 2-sided event, and 1-sided otherwise.
Part 2: Creating the Facts segment
Create a new worksheet called Facts. This will be used to provide some dynamic key statistics on our dashboard subsequently.
Create a dynamic title by inserting various calculated fields, and wrapping a narrative around it. This allows users to easily see key statistics.
Part 3: Creating the Map visualization
Check that Longitude and Latitude have been assigned to their respective Geographic roles. This can be done by right clicking on each variable.
Drag Longitude to Columns, and Latitude to Rows. Ensure they are both set to Measure(Average).
Drag Country, Event Type, 1 or 2 sided event to Filters.
Drag Event Date to Filter, and select YEAR, select all for the respective options.
Right click on each of the filters and apply to all worksheets using this data source. For each of the filters, also click on “Show Filter”
Change the Marks from Automatic to Shape
Drag Event Type to Colour
Drag Fatalities Present Shape to Shape, right click and customize the shape and fill.
Drag Selected Impact Type to Size, ensure that the measure is set to Sum.
Drag Event Id Cnty to Detail
Drag to Tooltip the following variables: Admin1, Notes, Event Date, Actor1, Actor 2
Right click on the Parameter “Conflict Impact Type”, and select Show Parameter
Edit the title of the Map visualization to insert various fields. Edit the formatting to make certain fields stand out visually.
Part 4: Creating the Line Graph visualization
Create a new worksheet called Line Graph
Drag Event Date to Columns, and Selected Impact Type to Rows
Drag Event Type to COlour
Select Lines (Discrete) under “Show Me” on the top right, and ensure that under Marks, it is set to Line
Ensure that under Color, the pointer is set to All
- Edit the title to be dynamic, edit the formatting to make certain fields stand out visually.
Part 5: Creating the Tooltip visualization
Create a new worksheet called Tooltip. This will be embedded and used as a tooltip visualization for other visualizations.
Drag Selected Impact Type to Columns, and Country to Rows
Right click on Country in Rows, and specify the sort order to be by Selected Impact Type, descending.
- Go to Line Graph worksheet, and double-click on Tooltip, and update it to insert the visualization in the newly created Tooltip worksheet as follows.
Part 6: Creating the Dashboard
Create a dashboard called Armed Conflict Dashboard
Pull in the Map on the left, Line Graph on the bottom right, Facts (the key statistics) on the top right
Re-arrange the filters accordingly, and change them to dropdown lists
Drag in Text boxes on the bottom left and bottom right to input the Source and References
Save and publish to Tableau Public Server
5.0 - Insights revealed
Describe five major observations revealed by the data visualization prepared.
5.1 - Insight 1: Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand were the ‘deadliest’ places during the period of 2015-2020.
We can see the following Key Statistics from the dashboard. 1) Philippines: 12,905 people killed out of 11,092 events, which occurred over 94% of the period of 2015-2020. 2) Myanmar: 5,292 people killed out of 7,277 events, which occurred over 88% of the period of 2015-2020. 3) Thailand: 887 people killed out of 3,321 events, which occurred over 62% of the period of 2015-2020.
Philippines and Myanmar seemed to be under conflict almost during the entire period.
Looking at all 3 countries selected together, the period under conflict increases to 96%.
Furthermore, almost all of the fatalities (19,078 out of 19,084) were due to ‘2-sided’ events (events with 2 actors).
5.2 - Insight 2: The greatest contributors to Fatalities were Violence against Civilians, and Battles.
18,845 out of 19,883 (95%) of the fatalities across all countries in the period were due to Violence against Civilians and Battles. In addition, these were mainly due to events where they were 2 actors present.
5.3 - Insight 3: Although Thailand was the 3rd ‘deadliest’ place in the period, Indonesia had significantly more events.
The following are statistics for the various countries. We can see that while Indonesia had significantly more events per day compared to Thailand (2.3/day vs 1.5/day), Thailand had a higher fatality rate (both per event and per day).
- Cambodia - 26%, 0.4 events/day, 51 killed, 0.0 killed/day
- Indonesia - 68%, 2.3 events/day, 682 killed, 0.3 killed/day
- Laos - 2%, 0.0 events/day, 21 killed, 0.0 killed/day
- Malaysia - 31%, 0.4 events/day, 26 killed, 0.0 killed/day
- Myanmar - 88%, 3.3 events/day, 5,292 killed, 2.4 killed/day
- Philippines - 94%, 6.1 events/day, 12,905 killed, 7.1 killed/day
- Thailand - 62%, 1.5 events/day, 887 killed, 0.4 killed/day
- Vietnam - 13%, 0.2 events/day, 19 killed, 0.0 killed/day
It would seem that Indonesia has many protests, but relatively, they are not as deadly.
5.4 - Insight 4: The 3 safest places in the region are: Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia are all relatively near each other on the map. During the period, these 3 countries had the lowest event rates and fatalities rate (as seen in Insight 3). In addition, the fatalities have also been trending downwards in general across the period.
5.5 - Insight 5: Philippines was a major contributor to the fatalities, and this only happened relatively recently.
2016 saw a huge spike in the number of Fatalities in Violence against Civilians, which was due to Philippines.
Since then, Philippines has been a major contributor to these fatalities. However, towards 2019 and 2020, the overall trend of fatalities seems to be decreasing. This was true for both the top 3 ‘deadliest’ countries, and for all countries under analysis.
It is also interesting to note that prior to 2016, there was no data captured for Philippines. It would be interesting to look into the prior years and see if Philippines had always been a deadly place in the region prior to the recent few years.