Lab week6

For this week’s lab, I delved into the data of the most popular baby names in New Zealand from 2001 to 2010 using the online tool Flourish. My initial attempt was to create a word cloud to showcase the frequency of all names in the dataset

visualization 1: name frequency

However, upon review, I found that while it effectively displayed the overall frequency of names over the decade, it lacked clarity regarding changes in popularity over time. Thus, for the second attempt, I tried dynamic dot plots that incorporate elements of time.

visualization 2: change of name over time

While this visualization provided a clearer representation by incorporating time, I found it challenging to track the magnitude of change over the years, despite it being displayed.

visualization final

For my final version, I introduced a line chart that presents the counts of each name over the ten-year period. This addition allowed for a clearer understanding of the relative position of each name’s frequency compared to other years. Although the dataset is binary, as names are determined by the baby’s biological sex, I took into consideration the implications of this classification. Drawing from the reading “What gets counted counts,” I endeavored to mitigate any negative effects by using similar colors for both genders. I opted for blue to represent female names and purple for male names, thus avoiding traditional color assumptions associated with each sex.

Through my iterative attempts, I refined my final visualization to effectively convey the story within the data, which is fundamental in digital humanities (DH) projects. The styling of the visualization played a crucial role in ensuring that viewers could discern important patterns within the data. By making suitable choices in styling, I facilitated viewers’ focus on key insights.