We will not have class Tuesday. Instead you will work on your first assignment combining data analysis, writing and data visualizations. By Thursday, you must write an article using the below data set. The article should be 300-400 words and use at least two simple charts (line, bar, scatter, etc). Like always you will work with your partner and turn in only one article. Please email me your story by Thursday, March 27 at 11:00 a.m.
Beyond the data I give you below, you can use any additional data or sources you want. Like any news story, do not use other media outlets as a source and follow AP style.
The Story: The NCAA tournament is hitting full stride, and the Vols and LadyVols are still in the mix. You must write a sidebar story about the effects of money on winning in Division I basketball. The story should be localized to the UT community (as if you were writing for the KnoxNews).
The Data: The main source of your story will be data from the Department of Education’s Equity in Athletics data. Under the 1994 Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act federally-funded institutions must reporting information about their athletics program including roster size, revenue and expenditures. The Equity in Athletics Data Analysis Cutting Tool is an amazingly simple tool, which allows you to download the data in anyway you want it: by schoool, by division, by year, etc. You should play around with it. Seriously…go play with it.
I’ll give you time.
Now they you played with the data cutting tool. I’ll just give you a CSV to start you off. Below you will find a CSV file, which contains the revenue and expenditures of every Division I basketball program for the last five years, which 2012 being the most current year.
The Charts: Please create your charts in Microsoft Excel. Here are some resources if you don’t know anything about making a chart in Excel:
- Microsoft’s how -to guide for Excel charts
- Here are 8 tutorials on making Excel charts
After you make your basic Excel charts, we want to step it up a bit. Excel charts are ugly. For reals.
Here is a fantastic guide on how you can “tufterize” – after the graphic design legend Edward Tufte – your charts. With a little extra time and finesse, you can actually make great looking charts in Excel. Get at it!