Textbooks

Required

This course makes use of several textbooks and other resources. I have attempted when possible to choose resources which are freely available.

1. Claus Wilke. Fundamentals of Data Visualization

This book is a comprehensive and highly readable guide to making visualizations that accurately reflect the data, tell a story, and look professional. It is freely available online and forms the backbone of the weekly readings.

2. Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic. Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals

This book teaches the fundamentals of communicating effectively with data: choosing an appropriate visual, eliminating clutter, focusing attention, and building a narrative.

Other Important Texts

1. Kieran Healy. Data Visualization: A Practical Introduction

A hands-on introduction to making visualizations with ggplot2 in R, freely available online.

2. William Cleveland. The Elements of Graphing Data. Hobart Press, 1994

A classic text on graphical perception theory from one of the pioneers of statistical graphics.

3. Rafe Donahue. Fundamental Statistical Concepts in Presenting Data

Data Visualization Resources

• The Data Visualization Catalogue
• US Census
• Tyler Technologies - Data Insights
• Centers for Disease Control
• United Nations
• NOAA
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Federal Reserve Board
• Pew Research Center
• Human Progress Datasets Archive