Copy the Masters

Grade Booster Activity

Note

I recommend completing this mini-project in Quarto or Rmarkdown. Please include your code!

For this booster condition, you’ll be reproducing graphics from FiveThirtyEight I chose FiveThirtyEight for a couple of reasons. First, I think they make very clear data graphics. And then perhaps more importantly, they make their data public, so it will be easier for us to reproduce their work.

Picking a Graphic

For the first step of this assignment, you will be identifying a graphic you want to reproduce. Start at the Our Data page and find a graphic that interests you and you think is possible to reproduce. This is mostly a “thinking step,” rather than a coding one, although you may want to start playing around in ggplot2 to see if your guess is right. Plots that will be easier to reproduce are the more standard ones (histograms, line charts, scatterplots, etc).

Warning

Some graphics in FiveThirtyEight are created with d3.js to incorporate interactivity. If the plot you select contains an interactivity component, please select a standstill snapshot of the graphic to recreate.

I looked through quickly and thought the following would be pretty doable:

Potentially doable:

On the scale of hard-to-not-doable:

Note

All of these may require a bit of data wrangling before you can get to the graphing data part.

You can’t choose either of the first graphic from Comic Books Are Still Made By Men, For Men And About Men because I will be using it as an example.

Warning

You might want to check in with Dr. Robinson at this point. Be prepared with:

  • a screenshot image of the original selected graphic.
  • a URL link to your selected graphic.
  • a quick snapshot and reference for the data set (e.g. head(data)).
    • This will require you to figure out how you will access the data (fivethirtyeight, fivethirtyeightdata or download from FiveThirtyEight Data).
    • You do not need to have done your data management yet, but if any is necessary, it should be included in your “game plan” below.
  • some sort of “pseudo-code” (game plan) for recreating the graphic.
    • You can do this in multiple different ways: a list of steps, a sketch using excalidraw.com, or outlined code. Just convince me you have a plan of attack for recreating the graph.

First Draft

Your next step is to do the quick, sketchy version of your graphic in code. Here is an example.

install.packages('fivethirtyeightdata', repos = 'https://fivethirtyeightdata.github.io/drat/', type = 'source')
library(tidyverse)
library(ggthemes)
library(fivethirtyeightdata)
library(fivethirtyeight)
data(comic_characters)
comic_characters |> 
  ggplot(aes(x    = year,
             fill = publisher
             )
         ) +
  geom_histogram(binwidth  = 1, 
                 color     = "white", 
                 linewidth = 0.1
                 ) +
  facet_wrap(~ publisher) +
  theme_fivethirtyeight() +
  scale_fill_manual(values = c("#008fd5", "#ff2700")) +
  labs(title = "New Comic Book Characters Introduced Per Year")

This draft does not have to have many lines of code in it (in fact, I think a good draft usually only takes 6 or so lines!), but it should include a version of your visualization that is at least part of the way to reproducing the original graphic. In particular, it should be the right “form” of graph (if the original is a barchart, it should be a barchart, not a scatterplot!). It’s okay if there are more categories than the original, or if the axes are off, etc.

Here’s another example, of an original graphic from FiveThirtyEight and what I would consider a draft of the graphic.

There’s a lot missing in the draft - it doesn’t have the right colors, the names still aren’t right, and the order is off! But it’s the correct “form” of graphic.

Warning

You might want to check in with Dr. Robinson at this point. Be prepared with:

  • a screenshot image of the original selected graphic.
  • a URL link to your selected graphic.
  • your code for creating your first draft (data management & ggplot2).
  • the image of the first draft of your recreated graphic.

Final Submission

The last piece is to get your graphic to look as similar to the original as possible. You might find an online color picker, annotations in ggplot, etc. useful. Remember this is a booster condition and you may need to expand your skill set to complete the customization (but don’t spend 5 hours getting just the right length of arrow or text font!).

In addition to your final draft, you should include two short paragraphs:

  1. A brief description of what the graphic shows.
  2. A critique and reflection of the design principles and choices made when FiveThirtyEight created the graphic, referring to perceptual and design principles discussed in class.

(Optional) Include alt text for your graphic. This can be included into .Rmd fig.alt = or .qmd #| fig-alt: code chunks (see slides from Week 5 for guidelines).

Grading Rubric

To meet the “satisfactory” requirements for the contract, this project must:

  • be turned in on time (or within the agreed upon time by 24 hour late tokens submitted prior to the due date),

  • include all components described above

  • Meet quality guidelines laid out in the following rubric (all 2s and above for each element and demonstration of additional considerations)

Warning

Please include ALL code used to complete the recreation of the graphic.

Component 3 - Strong Evidence 2 - Moderate Evidence 1 - Weak Evidence 0 - No Evidence
Original Graph An image of the original graph relevant to the project is included and properly referenced with a URL, plot title, and article title. An image of the original graph is included, but it may not be properly referenced. Alternatively, the image may be included but is of such poor quality that it is difficult to see. An image of a graph is included, but it is not properly referenced or not relevant to the project. For example, the included graph may be from the same article but may not be the exact graph you are attempting to reproduce. The original graph is not provided or is not relevant to the project. For example, the original graph may be from a different or related article but may not be the exact graph you are attempting to reproduce.

Data Management

(If no data summaries or transformations are necessary, please explain why the data is already in proper format to recreate the graph.)

 The data is properly sourced (R package, downloaded, etc.) and formatted, and any necessary transformations or calculations have been clearly explained and justified. You have accurately reproduced the data necessary to recreate the original graph and provided a thorough explanation of any modifications made. The data is sourced and formatted correctly, but some explanations or justifications for transformations or calculations may be lacking. You have reproduced the data necessary to recreate the original graph with some minor errors, and provided a brief explanation of any modifications made. The data may be incomplete, poorly formatted, or lacking proper explanations for any transformations or calculations. You have not successfully reproduced the data necessary to recreate the graph and provided little to no explanation of any modifications made. No data management is performed or explained.
Nuts and Bolts of the Graph You have accurately reproduced all elements of the graph (axes, labels, title, legend, etc.) and any scales or units are appropriately chosen. You have accurately reproduced most elements of the graph, but some choices of scales or units may be questionable or missing. You inaccurately reproduced some elements of the graph, and choices of scales or units may be inappropriate or confusing. For example, you did not accurately reproduce the form and structure of the original graph. No graph is produced or the graph is entirely uninterpretable.
Basic Graph Customization You have reproduced any basic customization present in the original graph that enhances the communication of the data, such as changing colors, placement of the axes labels, etc. You have accurately reproduced some basic customization, but you may be missing key components from the original graph that enhance the communication of the data. You have attempted some basic customization, but it is poorly executed or misrepresents the customization from the original graph. No customization beyond the form and structure of the graph is attempted or explained.
Detailed Graph Customization The graph is customized in a way that demonstrates a deep understanding of the original graphic and the message being conveyed, such as using advanced techniques like annotations with arrows. Some advanced customization is attempted, but it may not entirely reflect the advanced customization in the original graphic, such as annotations but no arrows. Customization beyond the basic level is attempted, but is not executed effectively. No advanced customization is attempted or explained.

Graph Description

(What is the graph about? Use context!)

 The description provides a clear and concise summary of the main points of the graph being reproduced and any key insights or takeaways. The description gives a reasonable summary of the graph and some insights, but may be incomplete or difficult to follow. The description is unclear or incomplete, and does not effectively communicate the main points or insights of the graph. No graph description is provided.
Design Critique The critique demonstrates a thoughtful and nuanced understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the original graph and your reproduction, with specific suggestions for improvement by referring to perceptual and design principles learned in class. The critique identifies some strengths and weaknesses of the graph but may lack specificity or depth or does not refer to perceptual and design principles learned in class. The critique is incomplete or does not effectively portray the strengths and weaknesses of the graph. There are no references to perceptual and design principles learned in class. No graph design critique is provided.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge Amelia McNamara for the original activity.