CS 5764: Information Visualization
Homework #2: Multi-dimensional visualization
Your assignment is to find some interesting data, explore it using some
visualization tools, and write a short report. This is an individual
assignment.
Data: Find some data of interest to you. The data
should be large and complex enough that visualization is needed.
It should be tabular and have at least 500 tuples and at least 5 attributes. Here
are some data ideas:
- intelligence data
- census data (www.census.gov, www.bls.gov, www.fedstats.gov)
- stock market data
- sports data
- network intrusion detection (data)
- scientific experiments (data,
description)
- bioinformatics (data,
description)
Visualization: Now, examine your data using the 2 visualization tools below. Each
tool has documentation about its data format and user manual. Each tool is
also described by papers in the reading list. You
can cut-n-paste data into these tools directly from Excel. The
visualization tools are installed on some of the machines in McBryde 104c, and
may be
downloadable for demo use:
-
Spotfire
-
TableLens (a.k.a.
Eureka by Inxight)
Report: Write a 2-page report about your data findings and about
the visualization tools. You should specifically answer these 3
questions:
- Data: topic, number of items and attributes, and meaning of the items and
attributes. Brief.
- Data findings: List 3 interesting, non-trivial findings in your data
(e.g. the more advanced types of insights that we discussed in class). Did
you find answers to questions you had about the data? Anything
surprising? Back up your claims with pictures (Alt-PrintScrn captures a
screenshot that can be pasted into word processors).
- Tool comparison: Compare the 2 tools in terms of the visual mapping,
scalability, and types of insights. This section is most important and should
take a full page.
Format: 2 pages, 11pt font, single spaced. Attach pictures as additional
pages.
What to hand in:
Access:
- Mcbryde 104c: is usually open during the day, but is locked and
inaccessible otherwise. So do NOT wait until the last minute. If needed,
ask Purvi when she can be available in 104c.
- Please be careful with equipment in 104c, and leave everything as you
found it.