← VCE Data Analytics U3O1

Purpose of a data visualisation: interactive exploration

A visualisation where users explore the data themselves, for example by filtering, selecting items or hovering over points for more detail.

Part of: VCE Data Analytics - U3O1 - Data Analytics — Module 100

Understanding Purpose of a data visualisation: interactive exploration in VCE Data Analytics U3O1

What it does: Selecting an item and having the display respond is the user exploring the data, which is the core idea of interactive exploration. A drop-down filter hands control to the user, who chooses what to see, so the visualisation is used for exploration. Hover for detail displays extra information such as exact values. It does not change the underlying data. Selecting means choosing an item, such as a bar or slice, so the visualisation responds. Printing is not interaction. Exploration means asking questions of the data. Filters and selections let users answer their own questions quickly. Tooltips and filter buttons are interactive features. A fixed image gives every viewer the same view.

Common mistakes: The closing bracket is missing. It should be menu.onChange(updateChart) so the dropdown filter updates the chart when the user changes it. Hover for detail needs the hover event. onPrint is the wrong event, so it should be chart.onHover(showTooltip).

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Learning
Duo
Which visualisation is interactive?
A printed poster showing one fixed bar chartA dashboard where the user picks a year from a drop-down filter
Matches
A printed bar chart with a note: 'Click a bar to filter the data'
↓
A printed chart cannot respond to clicks, so it is static, not interactive. Interactive exploration needs a digital visualisation that reacts to the user.
Applying
Meanings
Term
interactive visualisation
Meaning
A visualisation where users explore the data themselves, for example by filtering, selecting items or hovering over points for more detail.
Practice
<label for="house">Filter by house:</label>
Testing
Gaps
SELECT * FROM students house = 'Red';
Check Answer
Spots
2menu = Dropdown(regions)
3menu.onChange(updateChart

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Quick Questions

1. Which visualisation is interactive?
A. A printed poster showing one fixed bar chart
B. A dashboard where the user picks a year from a drop-down filter ✓
An interactive visualisation lets the user change what they see, for example by choosing a filter. A printed poster cannot respond to the user.
2. What does hovering over a point on a scatter graph show in an interactive visualisation?
A. A tooltip with more detail about that point ✓
B. A permanently changed data set
Hover for detail displays extra information such as exact values. It does not change the underlying data.
3. Who decides which part of the data is shown in an interactive visualisation?
A. The user, by filtering or selecting ✓
B. Only the designer, before it is published
The core idea is that users explore the data themselves, rather than viewing only what the designer chose.
4. Which action is an example of selecting in an interactive visualisation?
A. Printing the chart on A4 paper
B. Clicking one bar to highlight its data in other charts ✓
Selecting means choosing an item, such as a bar or slice, so the visualisation responds. Printing is not interaction.
5. Why is an interactive visualisation useful for exploratory analysis?
A. Users can test their own questions by changing filters ✓
B. It stops users from seeing any detail
Exploration means asking questions of the data. Filters and selections let users answer their own questions quickly.

Match the Pairs

Filter: Year Level = 9 → A filter control that lets the user narrow the visualisation to show only the data they choose
onHover: show(studentName, mark) → Hovering over a point reveals extra detail, such as the exact value, without cluttering the chart
In an interactive visualisation, the user explores the data themselves by selecting an item, and the other charts update to match → onClick(bar) -> updateCharts(selected)
An interactive visualisation can offer a drop-down filter so each user can choose which data they want to explore → dropdown(region) -> showOnly(region)
A printed bar chart with a note: 'Click a bar to filter the data' → A printed chart cannot respond to clicks, so it is static, not interactive. Interactive exploration needs a digital visualisation that reacts to the user.
Dashboard that always shows every row and has no filters, slicers or hover detail, described as 'interactive' → With no filters, selection or hover, users cannot explore the data themselves, so it is not interactive.

Key Term

interactive visualisation
A visualisation where users explore the data themselves, for example by filtering, selecting items or hovering over points for more detail.

Fill in the Blanks

1. SELECT * FROM students WHERE house = 'Red';
Hint: Type the keyword that filters rows when a user picks one item in a filter.
2. SELECT name, price FROM products WHERE category = 'Tech';
Hint: Type the column the user is filtering by when they select a category button.
3. SELECT * FROM students WHERE house IN ('Red', 'Blue');
Hint: Type the keyword that matches several items a user has selected at once.
4. SELECT * FROM students WHERE studentId = 3;
Hint: Type the column that picks out the single point a user hovers over for detail.
5. SELECT firstName FROM students WHERE points >= 100;
Hint: Type the operator for a slider filter that keeps values of 100 or more.

Spot the Error

Question 1
A chart = Chart(salesData)
B menu = Dropdown(regions)
C menu.onChange(updateChart
D show(chart, menu)
Line C — The closing bracket is missing. It should be menu.onChange(updateChart) so the dropdown filter updates the chart when the user changes it.
Question 2
A chart = ScatterGraph(data)
B chart.onPrint(showTooltip)
C tooltip.text = point.value
Line B — Hover for detail needs the hover event. onPrint is the wrong event, so it should be chart.onHover(showTooltip).
Question 3
A slicer == Slicer(yearLevel)
B slicer.linkTo(chart)
C chart.refresh()
Line A — A double equals compares values instead of assigning. It should be slicer = Slicer(yearLevel) to create the slicer.
Question 4
A SELECT * FROM sales
B WHERE region = North
C ORDER BY month;
Line B — Text values in SQL need quotes. The filter a user picks should be written as WHERE region = 'North'.
Question 5
A function onSelect(bar) {
B highlight(bar)
C showDetails(bar,name)
D }
Line C — A comma is used instead of a dot. It should be bar.name so the selected bar's name property is passed to showDetails.

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