A methods@manchester workshop
Tuesday 3rd February 1-5pm, AMBS 3.006a
This session invites researchers from across the humanities and sciences to engage critically and creatively with data visualisation. Participants will learn to better recognise and critique biased, oversimplified, or misleading representations of data, and to develop their own visualisations to explore and communicate data that is relevant to their research.
Dr Luca Scholz is a Senior Lecturer (Assoc. Prof.) in History and Digital Humanities. He co-directs the Centre for Digital Humanities, Cultures and Media at Manchester, where he develops new programmes in digital humanities and culture and co-organises the Environmental Digital Humanities seminar series.
Full Details
Drawing on recent work across the humanities and sciences and adopting a non-deterministic view of data and its associated technologies (D'Ignazio 2022), this introduction to critical data visualisation encourages participants to consider how data visualisation and modelling choices influence the interpretation of data and to explore how scholars employ established and novel techniques to visualise uncertainty, confront historicity and subjectivity, and appropriate digital methods on their own terms. By the end of the session, participants will be able to:
- Identify opportunities and limitations of different visualisation approaches
- Reflect critically on how data modelling and design choices shape interpretation
This training will particularly appeal to researchers in the humanities and social sciences with no or limited previous experience in working with data, as well as more experienced researchers across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities who wish to better understand critical and creative approaches to data analysis and visualisation. There will be an opportunity for participants to work with their own (tabular) data, so please bring this to the session if you wish to. The session does not require any previous technical knowledge.
Structure
- Introduction to critical data visualisation
- Tutorials: Visualising data in Tableau and RAWGraphs
- Individual or group work with data provided by participants (or by workshop leader for participants without data)
- A final discussion on critical data visualisation and opportunities for research in different domains
Refreshments including tea, coffee and vegan cakes/pastries will be provided
Who should attend the session?
- Beginners with an interest in data visualisation
- Experienced researchers seeking to explore critical and creative approaches to data visualisation
Location
- 3.006a, Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS), Booth Street West, M15 6PB