Report Writing and Data Visualization

Transcription

1 Institutional Research Institute 2015 Report Writing and Data Visualization Nhlanhla Cele and Herman Visser 1 Report Writing and Data Visualization Herman Visser and Nhlanhla Cele (SAAIR) Institutional Research Institute - July 2015 Wits University 1

2 Structure of presentation Contextualizing report writing Kinds of reports and examples Common sense selection of graphs Examples of data visualization Writing style Discussion Purpose of the Report What is the report responding to? Who are the major stakeholders involved (audience)? What are the suggested intentions behind analysis and recommendations? Who are the intended beneficiaries of change? How is implementation of the suggested change to be achieved? How does one develop ownership of the report amongst the potential users of the work/report produced? (Taylor, Rizvi, Henry: 1997) 2

3 TYPES OF IR REPORTS POLICY AND PRACTICE Stakeholder research project (language policy study) Needs assessment (profile analysis) Perceptions and experiences (satisfaction surveys) Commissioned research (directly leading to practical adjustments) Reflective studies (those who got away study) Programme assessment (first year experience) Early warning system (student performance reports) TYPES OF IR REPORTS (Cont..) CORPORATE REPORTS Institutional performance reports (annual reports) Portfolio reports (research/ teaching and learning) Project reports (end of project) Facts and figures (bird s eye-view) Reflective studies (impact analysis) Statutory reports (integrated report) 3

4 TYPES OF IR REPORTS (Cont..) MONITORING & EVALUATION Progress reports Strategy assessment reports Faculty/school profile reports Review reports (departmental review reports) Internal trend analysis (cohort studies) Impact assessment reports Evaluation reports (course evaluation; dashboards) TYPES OF IR REPORTS (Cont..) ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING Benchmarking reports (rankings) Comparative Analysis (state of research report) Market trend analysis (international student mobility report) Clientele profiling (market analysis report) Stakeholder perception (employer surveys; alumni tracer studies) User surveys/studies (graduate exit studies) Efficiency ratios 4

5 What kind of report is it? Policy What are the suggested intentions behind the report? Corporate Political Academic What is policy responding to? Report as text (tone, style, voice, information overload) How is the implementation of recommendations to be achieved? How do you develop ownership amongst users? Strategic Who are the major stakeholders involved in the change and implementation processes? INSTITUTIONAL CONSEQUENCES Assembling evidence against a particular framework: (theoretical / ideological/ conceptual / criteria) Is rigorous, iterative (team effort /quality assurance) Is often resisted (over-regulation/ increased accountability/ autonomy/ there is nothing new/ offended users) Will lead to changed discourses practices/ resources/ strategies Is a continuing process: developing a culture / ethos of assuring and promoting evidence based practice and decision making 5

6 % Headcount enrolments 8/21/2015 Graphs and visualization of data Preferred university for further studies Wits graduates Pie chart 4,80% Nelson Mandela M University Rhodes University Stellenbosch University 0,17% 0,17% 0,17% 5,63% 1,99% 0,33% 2,48% 0,83% 0,66% 0,17% UNISA University of Cape Town University of Free State University of Johannesburg University of Kwazulu Natal University of NorthWest University of Pretoria 82,62% University of the Witwatersrand Showing how total amount is divided into separate parts All parts will add to 100% Cannot use in showing trends, benchmarks, relationships between variables, or multiple variables Graphs and visualization of data 70% Bar graphs 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male WITS UCT UJ UKZN UP US % 49% 50% 50% 54% 46% 58% 42% 57% 43% 51% 49% % 49% 50% 50% 54% 46% 58% 42% 58% 42% 51% 49% % 47% 50% 50% 55% 45% 59% 41% 59% 41% 52% 48% % 46% 52% 48% 56% 44% 59% 41% 58% 42% 52% 48% % 46% 52% 48% 55% 45% 59% 41% 59% 41% 51% 49% Use if values on the horizontal axis are distinct Often start at zero and scale should be correct Values should be consistent 6

7 Graphs and visualization of data Line graphs PhD Graduate output by University The top Five ( ) UP UCT SU UKZN WITS Use if values on the horizontal axis are continuous Does not need to start at zero Very good if comparison is the purpose of analysis Graphs and visualization of data Spider-web graphs QS Rankings comparison between UCT and Wits AR 0 IS IF 850 ER FS Wits Cape Town Trend analysis and multiple variables Very good if comparison is the purpose of analysis Provide data legends AR: Academic Reputation ER: Employer Reputation FS: Faculty Student CF: Citations per Faculty CF IF: International Faculty IS: International Students 7

8 Strategies to improve reports Summarize key findings in words and numbers Be judicious about including tables and graphs in the body of the report Use words to describe the meaning of a statistical analysis Recognize that statistical significance may have no practical importance Ask your audience for suggestions about improving reports More strategies Distribute key findings in one-page briefs or web pages, and refer to the full report Use bullets Use a question and answer format Put technical material and tables in a separate document Use different formats for different audiences Include anecdotes or quotes to support findings 8

9 Table example Perm Temp Personnel Category Table example Permanent Crafts & Trades Permanent Executive/Administration/Management Professional Permanent Instructional/Research Professional Permanent Non-professional Administration Permanent Service Permanent Specialist/Support Professional Permanent Technical Temporary Crafts & Trades Temporary Executive/Administration/Management Professional Temporary Instructional/Research Professional Temporary Non-professional Administration Temporary Service Temporary Specialist/Support Professional Temporary Technical TOTAL Table example Institution Faculty Current Fees Max Fee Weighted Fee Cape Technikon Applied Science 11,751, ,986, ,378, Built Environenment & Design 15,359, ,467, ,955, Business Informatics 33,457, ,057, ,982, Education 19,774, ,151, ,567, Engineering 17,865, ,540, ,670, Management 51,946, ,446, ,616, Sub-Total 150,154, ,650, ,170, Peninsula Technikon Business Studies 12,142, ,273, ,972, Engineering 19,065, ,791, ,968, Science 13,806, ,622, ,948, Sub-Total 45,014, ,688, ,889, TOTAL 195,169, ,338, ,059, DIFFERENCE RE. CURRENT FEES 57,168, ,110, % -0.6% 9

10 Table example Perm Temp Personnel Category Table example Permanent Crafts & Trades Executive/Administration/Management Professional Instructional/Research Professional Non-professional Administration Service Specialist/Support Professional Technical Temporary Crafts & Trades Executive/Administration/Management Professional Instructional/Research Professional Non-professional Administration Service Specialist/Support Professional Technical TOTAL Table example Appendix A: Intake, Graduate, Exclusion & Drop-out Analysis - CONTACT Cohort of 2000 Intak e Graduated 1 Excluded Exited Continuing Graduated 2 Qual Level Total Total Readmitted Another Qual Not Readmitted Total Changed Qual Dropped Out Total Total Total Doctors by coursework % 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% % % 2 9.5% % Doctors by thesis % 0 0% 1 0.6% 1 0.6% % 56 32% % % 91 52% Honours % 0 0% 2 0.2% 2 0.2% % % % 1 0.1% % Masters by coursework % 2 0.2% 5 0.5% 7 0.7% % % % % % Masters by thesis % 1 0.3% 1 0.3% 2 0.5% 51 14% % % 7 1.9% % Postgraduate bachelors % 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% % 42 20% % 0 0% % Postgraduate diplomas % 0 0% 3 0.3% 3 0.3% % % % 0 0% % TOTAL % 3 0.1% % % % % % % % 10

11 Question Provide the data for 2008, 2009 and 2010 on the number of students attending exams per college. Pivot table example Student Count Attending Examinations 1 Student Count Year College Grand Total COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES COLLEGE OF ECONOMIC AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES COLLEGE OF HUMAN SCIENCES COLLEGE OF LAW COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY Grand Total

12 Proportion 8/21/2015 Cluster bar chart % 90.0% 80.0% CPUT 2005 Enrolments, by Group % 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 4 2 Black Coloured Indian Other White Group 3 All Bellville Cape Tow n Figure 7a: Average Time to Complete Postgraduate Qualifications Science & Agriculture UKZN Postgraduate Diploma Honours (1yr) Masters Coursework Masters Thesis (1yr) Doctoral Thesis (2yr) (1y r) (1y r) 12

13 Cohort Completion Rate (Contact, PG) PG Total Cohort 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 59.7% 58.7% 59.0% 52.1% 44.0% 27.4% 16.5% 11.2% 69.3% 66.5% 66.9% 61.6% 54.7% 52.1% 44.2% 33.3%

14 100% University module Passrate Engineering Science & Agriculture Health Sciences NRM School of Medicine Education Humanities, Dev & Soc. Sciences Law Management Studies University Passrate 95% 90% 85% 80% 78.9% 80.0% 78.4% 77.9% 79.1% 80.3% 78.4% 76.7% 75% 75.6% 70% Avg Horizontal Bar Chart Graduation Rate of Technikons: 2000 Border Vaal Triangle TSA Pretoria North West Eastern Cape N. Gauteng Wits Mangosothu Free State ML Sultan Natal PE Peninsula Cape 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% 18.0% 20.0% Source: 'Education Statistics in SA at a Glance in 2000' 14

15 Spidergram UNIVERSITIES: BENCHMARKS AND AVERAGES Financial Stability Student equity Staff equity M + D outputs Enrol stability 0.4 Pub outputs Enrol size Bench Univs Grad/Enrol% : M + D Enrol shape Grad/Enrol% : 3 year qual Acad staff avail Staff qualific Southern African Association for Institutional Research 15

16 International System of Units (SI) The modern form of the metric system. Generally a system of units of measurement. The world's most widely used system of measurement, both in everyday commerce and in science; Only Burma, Liberia & the USA have NOT adopted the system. Consider the importance for institutional researchers... SI writing style Use space as thousands separator ( ) in contrast to commas or periods (1,000,000 or ) in order to reduce confusion resulting from the variation between these forms in different countries. In print, the space used for this purpose is typically narrower than that between words (commonly a thin space). South Africa have adopted the standard of a space as thousands separator. 16

17 SI writing style The 10th resolution of CGPM in 2003 declared that "the symbol for the decimal marker shall be either the point on the line or the comma on the line." In practice, the decimal point is used in Englishspeaking countries as well as most of Asia and the comma in most continental European languages. South Africa has adopted the decimal comma, except in the case of financial figures where the decimal point is used in line with the World Bank standard in this regard. Questions and discussion 17