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Presentation by Peter Fontaine, CBO's Assistant Director for Budget Analysis, to a Global Network of Parliamentary Budget Offices Community Meeting Sponsored by the World Bank Institute
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Congressional Budget Office
Telling Visual Stories About Data
Presentation for the: Seminar on Independent Budget Analysis & Transparency A Global Network of Parliamentary Budget Offices Community Meeting
Peter Fontaine Assistant Director for Budget Analysis June 2014
Know Your Audience
Members of Congress and Staff
explanatory exploratory
static
interactive
How CBO Communicates
Reports
Policy options, spreadsheet
Chartbooks
Snapshots
Presentations
Before
After
Infographics
Use Best Practices
Show the Data
Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011
Show the Data
Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011
0-axis thicker than data line
Show the Data
Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011
Tick marks probably unnecessary
0-axis thicker than data line
Show the Data
Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011
Label and %-sign are redundant 0-axis thicker
than data line
Tick marks probably unnecessary
Show the Data
Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011
Abbreviations make comprehension difficult
0-axis thicker than data line
Tick marks probably unnecessary
Label and %-sign are redundant
Show the Data
Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011
Data points are outside the axis bounds
0-axis thicker than data line
Tick marks probably unnecessary
Label and %-sign are redundant
Abbreviations make comprehension difficult
Implied Impulse Response Functions for Different Caseloads(Percentage change in caseload)
-20
-10
0
10
20
0 1 2 3 4 5
Years
Adult Only
0 1 2 3 4 5
Years
No Cash
-20
-10
0
10
20
0 1 2 3 4 5
Years
Welfare Cash Assistance
0 1 2 3 4 5
Years
SSI Cash Assistance
Show the Data
Gordon Hanson, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2012
Reduce Clutter
Reduce Clutter
Integrate Text and Graphics
Social Security Advisory Board, Aspects of Disability Decision Making: Data and Materials, February 2012
Integrate Text and Graphics
Use Appropriate
Tools
Excel
Stata
SAS
Open Office
R
Tableau
JavaScript
Google Charts
Standard Tools
Newer Tools
If your tool doesn’t let you create the visualization you want, get a different tool.
Do the figures in this report illustrate its main points?
What should the reader learn from the figure?
Is the figure understandable outside the confines of the report?
The purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures -Ben Shneiderman
References
Slide
7. CBO, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024, www.cbo.gov/publication/45010, February 2014
8-9. CBO, Social Security Policy Options, www.cbo.gov/publication/21547, July 2010
10. CBO, A Premium Support System for Medicare: Analysis of Illustrative Options, www.cbo.gov/publication/44581, September 2013
11. CBO, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024, www.cbo.gov/publication/45010, February 2014
13. CBO, Rising Demand for Long-Term Services and Supports for Elderly People, www.cbo.gov/publication/44363, June 2013
14-15. CBO, The Distribution of Federal Spending and Taxes in 2006, www.cbo.gov/publication/44698, November 2013
17. CBO, Snapshot of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, www.cbo.gov/publication/44131, April 2013
18. CBO, Snapshot of Unemployment Benefits, www.cbo.gov/publication/44096, March 2013
References, continued
Slide
20. CBO, Federal Health Care Spending: Why Is It Growing? What Could Be Done About It? www.cbo.gov/publication/44761 , September 2013
21. CBO, Federal Health Care Spending: Why Is It Growing? What Could Be Done About It? www.cbo.gov/publication/45144, February 2014
22. CBO, The Federal Budget: Outlook and Challenges, www.cbo.gov/publication/44378, June 2013
24-27. CBO, The U.S. Federal Budget: Infographic, www.cbo.gov/publication/42636, December 2011
28-32. CBO, Federal Means-Tested Programs and Tax Credits—Infographic, www.cbo.gov/publication/43935, February 2013
33. CBO, The Long-Term Budget Outlook: Infographic, www.cbo.gov/publication/43289, June 2012
35-45. Jonathan Schwabish, “An Economist’s Guide to Visualizing Data,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.28.1.209, Winter 2014
