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Visualizing Data: a misleading y-axis By Leah Breevoort on June 10, 2020 in Between a Graph and a Hard Place With great power comes great responsibility—that’s how I feel about data visualizations. Good ones help readers quickly understand the data and can convey an important message to a lot of people. However, bad data visualizations can intentionally or unintentionally mislead, causing us to come to the wrong conclusions. In this multi-part post, we’ll unpack some of the most common mistakes and give you the tools to spot them. Omitting the baseline Imagine you’re telling someone the plot of a novel, but you start in the middle. All of the sudden the protagonist slays the dragon, which is a huge jump from introduction... Read more → The right data for the job – part II By Katie Fox on June 3, 2020 in Between a Graph and a Hard Place Hello, again! Are you ready to learn more about the right data for the job? We are reviewing the qualifications of various data to answer different kinds of research questions, just like we would review job candidates’ qualifications for a job. Last week we talked about the importance of what data were collected and how they were collected. This week we’re going to consider the importance of definitions and what it means for data to be representative. I know you have been waiting anxiously to figure out what we were going to do with those hats, so let’s jump back... Read more → The right data for the job By Katie Fox on May 27, 2020 in Between a Graph and a Hard Place Imagine that different types of data are different people that you are interviewing for a job. The job is to answer a specific research question. You want to know what their qualifications are—will they do a good job? Are their strengths a good match for the task? Like we’ve mentioned before, if there are issues with the underlying data, then there will be issues with the results. It’s important to consider if the data collected make sense for the question that was asked. Today, the data “qualifications” we’ll be looking at are what kind of data were collected and how the... Read more → Correlation doesn’t equal causation (but it does equal a lot of other things) By Leah Breevoort on May 20, 2020 in Between a Graph and a Hard Place Correlation ≠ causation Data are pieces of information, like the number of books checked out at the library or reference questions asked. Those pieces of information are simply points on a chart or numbers in a spreadsheet until someone interprets their meaning. People create charts and graphs so that we can visualize that meaning more easily. However, sometimes the visualization misleads us and we come to the wrong conclusions. Such is the case when we confuse correlation (a statistical measurement of how two variables move in relation to each other) with causation (a cause-and-effect relationship). In other words, we assume one... Read more → What’s typical and why does it matter? By Katie Fox on May 13, 2020 in Between a Graph and a Hard Place Average is one of those statistics that comes up a lot. What does it mean? How can we use it? What are its limitations? Today we’re going to talk about both the average, also known as the mean, and another statistic called the median. Means and medians are both ways to find out what’s typical and to compare multiple things. It’s easier to understand what these two statistics tell us when you know how they are calculated. Don’t worry if you don’t think of yourself as a “math person.” We’re only going to use addition and division. What is it? Let’s do the... Read more → Do the Data Have an Alibi? By Leah Breevoort on May 6, 2020 in Between a Graph and a Hard Place It’s hard to know who you can trust out there. “Fake news” is now a prevalent concept in society and the internet makes it possible for anyone to publish—well, anything. As library professionals, you’ve probably already acquired a great deal of experience determining the credibility of sources. Many of the same skills are needed to evaluate the credibility of data. So amid the bombardment of new (sometimes conflicting) data out there, here are some questions to ask when verifying sources and checking for bias. Although not fool-proof, these strategies can help you avoid misleading information and false claims. Let’s establish something... Read more → More News POPULAR 2019 Public Library Annual Report Research Institute for Public Libraries School Library Impact Studies Library User Survey Templates Public Library Survey Data BETWEEN A GRAPH AND A HARD PLACE Visualizing Data: a misleading y-axis Read more → FAST FACTS Library Jobline Expands in 2019 Challenged Materials in Colorado Public Libraries, 2018 2018: Use of Library Jobline Jumps Again CTBL Patron Satisfaction and Status Report Challenged Materials in Colorado Public Libraries, 2017 POPULAR RESOURCES Public Library Statistics & Profiles Dive into annual statistics from the Colorado Public Library Annual Report using our interactive tool, results tailored to trustees, and state totals and averages. School Library Impact Studies School libraries have a profound impact on student achievement. Explore studies about this topic by LRS and other researchers in our comprehensive guide. Fast Fact Reports Looking for a quick rundown of library research? Check out our Fast Facts, which highlight research and statistics about various library topics. LIBRARYJOBLINE Learning Coordinator Whatcom County Library System Librarian - Diversity & Inclusion Jefferson County Public Library Library Technician II State of Colorado Department of Corrections Coordinator of Reference, Instructional Services & User Experience Mount Wachusett Community College Library Director The Millicent Library Library Director East Greenwich Free Library See more @ LibraryJobline.org ABOUT       -- LRS is part of the Colorado State Library , a unit of the Colorado Department of Education . We design and conduct library research for library and education professionals, public officials, and the media to inform practices and assessment needs. This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) . -- Staff & Contact Info © 2018 | lrs@lrs.org | 303-866-6900 Back to Top...