As pretty usual nowadays, this post is NOT original, but inspired directly from the home Web pages of the site I am going to present: Google Public Data Explorer for a more enjoyable and effective visualization. In this age of continuous flows of information and data, it seems essential to organize and visualize the data for the practical use and Google looks nice. And what all we need is a Google account.
The Google Public Data Explorer makes large datasets easy to explore, visualize and communicate. As the charts and maps animate over time, the changes in the world become easier to understand. It is also important to note that the Google Lab only public data available takes into account, then, the data must be present in the Google Database. We do NOT have to be a data expert to navigate between different views, make our own comparisons, and share our findings. Students, journalists, policy makers and everyone else can play with the tool to create visualizations of public data (many graphics forms available), link to them, or embed them in their own webpages. Embedded charts and links can update automatically so we are always sharing the latest available data. Here aside there is a comparison originated from the OECD Factbook 2009, precisely from Mean scores on the science scale in PISA 2006 about the proficiency levels and assessment by Italian and Finnish students in Science. Finally, is it possible to download the data? No, but Google is considering the option in the future. Can we print the originated graphics? Yes, we can: this is much easier through Mac OS systems (but also with a “Windows-ed pc”). Below the Italian post, you will see a short Video from Google on how to visualize data on unemployment in the U.S.A.
In Italiano:
Ricordate le indagini dell’OCSE relative ai livelli di apprendimento conseguiti dagli studenti in decine di nazioni? Ricordate che le indagini denominate PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) collocavano gli studenti italiani quasi al fondo delle classifiche, specie per le materie tecnico-scientifiche e che tante polemiche hanno suscitato in Italia? Ebbene, anche per controbattere alle discussioni, ipotizzare vie alternative, è pur sempre necessario adoperare i dati, saperli presentare, elaborarli.
Oggi parlo di Google Public Data Explorer, disponibile attraverso il proprio account Gmail e che raccoglie ed elabora per noi una serie di dati statistici pubblici, da una lunga lista (“Subset”) di fonti già presenti nel database del Google Lab. Google Public Data Explorer visualizzerà per voi i dati prescelti e comparati in varie forme grafiche, scale e quantità. E’ possibile scaricare i dati? Al momento no, ma si prevede di farlo in futuro. E’ possibile stampare la schermata ottenuta? Sì, certo (e con i sistemi Mac OS risulta più facile). Il tutto sempre gratis.
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