Table of Contents

1. Our Backbone: Why We Visualize
Why We Visualize
When Visualization Is Harmful
Which Chart Type Is Best?
How to Use This Book
Exercises
Resources
References
2. When a Single Number Is Important: Showing Mean, Frequency, and Measures of Variability
What Stories Can Be Told With a Single Number?
How Can I Visualize a Single Number?
How Can I Show Measures of Variability?
Exercises
Resources
References
3. How Two or More Numbers are Alike or Different: Visualizing Comparisons
What Stories Can Be Told About How Two or More Numbers Are Alike or Different?
How Can I Visualize How Two or More Numbers Are Alike or Different?
Exercises
Resources
References
4. How We Are Better or Worse Than a Benchmark: Displaying Relative Performance
What Stories Can Be Told About How We Are Better or Worse Than a Benchmark?
How Can I Visualize How We Are Better or Worse Than a Benchmark?
Exercises
Resources
References
5. What the Survey Says: Showing Likert, Ranking, Check-All-That-Apply, and More
What Stories Can Be Told About What the Survey Says?
How Can I Visualize What the Survey Says?
Ranking
Branching
Visualizing Not Applicable or Missing Data
Exercises
Resources
References
6. When There Are Parts of a Whole: Visualizing Beyond the Pie Chart
What Stories Can Be Told When There Are Parts of a Whole?
How Can I Visualize the Parts of a Whole?
Exercises
Resources
References
7. How This Thing Changes When That Thing Does: Communicating Correlation and Regression
What Stories Can Be Told About How This Thing Changes When That Thing Does?
How Can I Visualize How This Thing Changes When That Thing Does?
Exercises
Resources
References
8. When the Words Have the Meaning: Visualizing Qualitative Data
What Stories Can Be Told When the Words Have the Meaning?
How Can I Visualize When the Words Have the Meaning?
Exercises
Resources
References
9. How Things Changed Over Time: Depicting Trends
What Stories Can Be Told About How Things Changed Over Time?
How Can I Visualize How Things Changed Over Time?
Exercises
Resources
References
10. It′s About More Than the Buttons
Dot Plots Generate Healthcare Pioneers
Clearly Labeled Line Graphs Streamline Decisions at a Fortune 500
Diverging Stacked Bars Make for Community Leaders in the Midwest
Icons Support Informed Policymaking
Exercises
Resources
Reference

About the Author

Dr. Stephanie D. H. Evergreen is a sought-after speaker, designer, and researcher. She is best known for bringing a research-based approach to helping others better communicate their work through more effective graphs, slides, and reports. She holds a PhD from Western Michigan University in interdisciplinary research, which included a dissertation on the extent of graphic design use in written data reporting. Dr. Evergreen has trained audiences worldwide through keynote presentations and workshops for clients, such as Verizon, Head Start, American Institutes for Research, Brookings Institute, the Ad Council, Boys and Girls Club of America, and the United Nations. She led the first known attempt to revamp the quality of presentations for an entire association: the Potent Presentations Initiative for the American Evaluation Association (AEA). She is the 2015 recipient of the AEA’s Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award, which recognizes early notable and substantial accomplishments in the field. Dr. Evergreen is coeditor and coauthor of two issues of New Directions for Evaluation on data visualization. She writes a popular blog on data presentation at StephanieEvergreen.com. Her book, Presenting Data Effectively: Communicating Your Findings for Maximum Impact, was published by Sage in Fall 2013 and was listed as number one in Social Science Research on Amazon in the United States and United Kingdom for several weeks.

Reviews

This text brings data visualization in to the twenty-first century. It is a definitive guide for students and practitioners in presenting data with clarity and lucidity.
*David Boyns*

Very approachable writing style, clear examples and instructions make this a "must-have" for anyone who has to present data.
*Thomas Cappaert*

I love this book. It opened me up to so many possibilities that I didn’t know existed in Excel. The author really helps you build these skills though thoughtful exercises. She uses her real-world experience to open the "black-box" behind graphing techniques. I can’t wait to use these skills for my next batch of research projects. The competition at the professional conferences will be amazed by our ninja skills.
*John O. Elliott*

This run-to-read and easy-to-use book can boost your visual presentation by making it right to the point!
*Shun-Yung Kevin Wang*

Effective Data Visualization sets a new standard for the practical presentation data using Excel. It provides impressive graphics and hands on details on when and  how to present them to various audiences. Any instructor who works with students seeking an advanced professional degree should consider adopting this text.
*Brian Frederick*

This book is an excellent guide for creating innovative and intentional graphics that can frequently speak for themselves. Stephanie not only shows you how to create visually appealing charts and graphics, but she also explains why it matters.
*Mindy Hightower King*