This hands-on workshop focuses on visual data analysis and data visualization using Stata. Data visualization serves a dual purpose: it not only illustrates research findings but also generates insights. Through effective visualization, patterns in data become apparent, enabling deeper understanding and more compelling communication of results.

The workshop balances general principles of good visualization with practical Stata implementation during which participants will learn how to create their own data visualizations. The course covers a wide range of simple and complex visualizations for basic descriptive analyses, showcasing of results from statistical models, and several specific areas such as geographic data and maps. In addition, participants will analyze and jointly discuss visualizations from various sources-social science research, other disciplines, and data journalism-to develop critical assessment skills. Teaching includes general aspects of visualization and showcases Stata's graphical capabilities and its technical aspects, including lesser-known but powerful features such as re-translating manual graph edits into Stata's graph code language, an approach that combines the simplicity of a click-based interface with the reproducibility and transparency of a code-based approach.

 

Activities include lecture elements, group discussions, structured exercises with provided solutions, and a "bad visualization contest" where participants deliberately create the worst or weirdest visualization as a fun way of familiarizing themselves with all technical features and possibilities of creating figures in Stata. Importantly, participants will have dedicated time to work on their own visualization projects with individual mentoring.

 

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a solid foundation to continue their data visualization journey, practical skills to enhance their academic publications, and capabilities that can boost career prospects in academia and beyond-in fields such as data analytics, data science, and data journalism. The course emphasizes visualization as both an analytical tool and a means of effective communication in social science research.

 

Organizational Structure of the Course

The course includes diverse formats, where the classroom parts cover lecture formats and interactive discussions. The hands-on part of the course includes:

 

The instructor will support participants throughout the course by providing instructional materials and slides, guiding group discussions about visualization best practices, offering hands-on assistance with technical challenges in Stata, and providing personalized mentoring and assistance for the visualization needs of participants' current research projects.

You will find the course useful if:

By the end of the course, you will:

 

Software and Hardware Requirements