data literacy
Opportunity
Mona Chalabi recently talked about the inaccessibility of statistics, saying the concepts are only ‘shared with a handful of experts’. Her goal is to reach the broader public with her work. Like Mona, I want to translate data for those who do not understand it. Since starting in the data field over three years ago, I’ve been interested in and passionate about teaching others, specifically around increasing data literacy in people who don’t engage with data day-to-day. I believe we all need a basic understanding of data and statistical concepts to live in our increasingly data-driven world.
Approach
People who do not have to learn about data aren’t likely to learn about it anyway. So I approach data literacy in the same light-hearted way I approach most data visualisation projects, piquing interest in something other than data. I’ve used illustration and storytelling to unpack concepts like data disaggregation and data structure. I’ve realised if you create a relatable narrative, data can be relatable to more people. To a point where people could actually get excited about data, and that’s what motivates me. I want to help everyone understand data, starting from a human perspective.
Tools
Procreate
Medium
Most People Like Fruit: the importance of data disaggregation.
Even though ‘passionate’ and ‘data ethics’ are rarely strung together, I’m someone who is in fact passionate about data ethics. A topic in this area I find very important, interesting and topical is data disaggregation. It’s also a concept I think everyone should understand.
I used the analogy of a fruit bowl to easily explain and bring clarity to a concept being discussed in the media during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Intro to data structure
(by way of a calming Spring scene)
The only time I’m a neat-freak is when it comes to data. But I’ve always had trouble explaining the necessity (and euphoria) of organized data until I heard of the concept of Tidy Data. Wanting others to get just as excited about this concept, I wrapped it into an illustrated story about bird watching.
I also translated this article into a data workshop, which I taught at London College of Communication to my fellow MADV classmates.