June 2014
Beginner to intermediate
334 pages
7h 35m
English
Content preview from Communicating Data with TableauBecome an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Chapter 3. How Much and How Many
“Numerical quantities focus on expected values, graphical summaries on unexpected values.”
—
Communicating data is sharing comparisons, and comparisons are examinations of relative amounts. We make comparisons all day long, without consciously deciding to do so. We love to explore how things are similar or how they are different. Whether we discover something unexpected or confirm a long-held belief, we walk away with a satisfying feeling of knowing.
But we can be highly skeptical of comparisons that others communicate to us. “Our product is better than our competitor’s.” “The economy has gotten worse since my opponent took office.” We’re exposed to comparisons such as these constantly, so it’s natural for us to be wary of them. Some comparisons are definitely odious.
What does this mean when it comes to communicating data? The onus is on the communicator to convey the message accurately and effectively, in order to earn the trust and attention of the target audience. It starts with understanding the nature of the comparison to be made.
Comparisons can include multiple layers, but at their core they always reduce to either how much or how many.
How much involves noncountable nouns like revenue or measurements:
“How much money did we earn this past quarter?”
“How much carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere?”
How many involves countable nouns like people or distinct events:
“How many customers do we have?”
“How many goals did players score this season?” ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access
More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.Julian F.
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.Addison B.
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.Amir M.
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.