Guide for Using DataPlace DataPlace is one stop source for

Report as inappropriate Your report has been received

Shared by: guy23

Tags

Guide, for, Using, DataPlace, DataPlace, is, one, stop, source, for

Stats

views:: 11
posted:: 1/10/2009
language:: English
pages:: 32

Public Domain

Document Sample

Guide for Using DataPlace
DataPlace is one-stop source for housing and demographic data about communities, the region, and the nation.
The site assembles a variety of data sets from multiple sources, and provides tools and guides to assist in
analyzing, interpreting, and applying the data for use in making more informed decisions. Includes data for the
District of Columbia, for census tracts and zip codes and in some instances for individual properties.

This guide covers 3 functions you can perform with DataPlace:

o Mapping,
o Creating Tables, and
o Creating Rankings.

Registering with DataPlace

You can register quickly and easily by clicking the Register link in the top-right corner. Once you register you can
log into your account, where your data, charts, maps and tables can be saved for later use. Registration is NOT
necessary to use DataPlace, but registering does provide the capability to save your work for later use.

Note: Much of the guidance provided in this Guide draws directly from guidance provided on the DataPlace web
site. We have enhanced this guidance in several instances with additional screen shots and descriptions.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 1
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Guide for Mapping with DataPlace

Getting Started

One of DataPlace's powerful uses is the ability to create maps that can be used in your documents, reports, and
proposals. The DataPlace mapping tool lets you display data/indicators that you select for a specific
neighborhood through a customized, colorful, ready-to-print map. To get started with creating a map, click on the
tab at the top of the DataPlace home page.

Navigating a map

You can quickly change the view of the map by left-clicking on the map and holding the button down as you drag
the map in any direction. Or, you can click on the directional bars at the left edge of the map pane, which will
appear if you move your mouse to the edge of the map.

You can zoom in or out by double-clicking on the map or by using the slider in the upper left corner of the map.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 2
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
You can re-center the map by double-clicking on a location that appears on the map. Another way to re-center on
a location is by searching for it via the search box or the "Browse Places" link at the top of the page.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 3
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Selecting an indicator

To the right of the map, the box labeled choose data to show provides several options for selecting an indicator to
display.

1. My Indicators: If you're a registered DataPlace user and are logged in to the site, this link displays the
indicators you have saved in your My DataPlace area. Click on the "add" link to the left of an indicator label to
display it on the map.

2. Popular: This link displays the five most popular indicators among users of DataPlace.

3. Recently Used: This link displays the indicators that you've previously selected in your current DataPlace
session.

4. Topic or Source: These links let you browse all the indicators on DataPlace by specific topics or data sources,
with links to subcategories.

Browse by topic
All Topics
Housing
Income / Employment
Mortgage Lending
Social / Demographic

NeighborhoodInfo DC 4
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
5. Search For An Indicator: Type a key word -- such as "poverty" or "subprime lenders" -- in the search box and
hit ‘Search’ to see all the indicators that contain the search term (example provided below). You can refine
your search by adding other key words or removing search terms by clicking

NeighborhoodInfo DC 5
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Using and altering the legend

• Metadata information. Metadata is information about data, such as the source and the date the data was
collected. The general descriptions of the data are useful for becoming familiar with the data that you use. If
you click on the blue icon, you will see a variety of metadata related to the data set you have chosen.

• Glossary definitions. Key terms in the indicator description are underlined. If you mouse over an underlined
term, a pop-up box shows a short definition of the term. Clicking on the term pops up the full glossary entry.

• Data intervals. The data for the selected indicator is displayed according a certain number of intervals. For
most indicators, the default number is eight. To change the number of intervals or ranges, click the drop-down
8
arrow below the chart showing the ranges for your selected indicator. The map above uses 8
intervals while the map on the following page uses 4.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 6
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
NeighborhoodInfo DC 7
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Using the identify tool

Clicking the question-mark icon above the zoom slider activates an "identify" function that allows you to see data
for a particular area on the map when you click on the area. In the example, the poverty rate for the particular
census tract is compared with that of the county, metro area, state, and nation.

Changing the appearance of a map
You can change the range of colors to represent data on the map by clicking on the Change map colors +
layers link, just above the data box. This link also lets you change the geographic features (e.g., parks, streets,
bodies of water, etc.) to be displayed on the map.

Printing and saving maps
To print or save a PDF version of a map, click on the link above the legend. A new window will
display your map in PDF format, ready for printing.

If you're a registered DataPlace user and are logged in to the site, you can save a map to your My DataPlace
area and access it whenever you want. Click on the link above the legend.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 8
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Guide for Tables and Charts with DataPlace

Getting Started

DataPlace allows you the ability to create tables and charts that can be used in your documents, reports, and
proposals. This data and charts tool lets you to customize the content of a table and chart to show the exact data,
geographic areas, and timeframes you're interested in. As you select the elements you want to display, DataPlace
creates a table and companion chart reflecting your choices. With this powerful tool, you can:

• Compare one or more indicators across multiple geographic locations.
• Examine changes in an indicator's value over time.
• Combine these features, comparing differences across locations and changes over time simultaneously.

To get started with creating a chart, clink on the tab at the top of the DataPlace home page.

Adding locations, indicators, and time frames

• Locations. If you haven't yet selected a location or an indicator to display on the table and chart, DataPlace
defaults to showing total population for the United States. If you have already selected a location or locations
in your session on DataPlace, they will appear on the Data & Charts page.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 9
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
You can quickly select a location to add to the table and chart by typing the location name into the search box at
the top of the page. Or, you can browse to a location by clicking on the Browse Places link located immediately
beneath the search box or on the drop-down arrow to the right of this link.

Make the final selection of the location to add by clicking on the Add button in the browser pop-up box. Repeat
this process to add other locations to the table and chart.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 10
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
• Indicators. If you haven't yet selected an indicator to display on the table and chart, DataPlace defaults to
showing total population for the United States. If you have already selected an indicator or indicators in your
session on DataPlace, they will appear on the Data & Charts page.

To the right of the chart, the box labeled choose data to show provides several options for selecting indicators.

2. Popular: This link displays the five most popular indicators among users of DataPlace.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 11
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
3. Recently Used: This link displays the indicators that you've previously selected in your current DataPlace
session.

4. Search For An Indicator. This link gives you several ways to find an indicator. Type a key word -- such as
"poverty" or "population density" -- in the search box and hit Search to see all the indicators that contain the
search term. You can refine your search by adding other key words or removing search terms by clicking

5. Browse all the indicators on DataPlace by Topic or Data Source. When you choose a topic or data source,
such as "Housing" or "Internal Revenue Service," DataPlace lists all of the related indicators and helps you
sort through them quickly. The gray Narrow Search Results box to the right of the list of indicators displays
various indicator subcategories. The number in parentheses tells how many indicators fall into each
subcategory, and clicking on a subcategory shows a list of the indicators within it.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 12
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
• Time frames. When additional years of data are available for a selected indicator, a drop-down box will
appear to the right of the chart. Select a time period from this drop-down, and the historical data will be added
to the chart. In the example below, choosing "2001" from the drop-down and clicking Go will add that year's
data to the chart.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 13
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Selecting what to show on the chart

Once you've built a basic table and chart with your selected location(s), indicator(s), and time frame(s), you can
customize the display of your chart by changing the grouping of the data. Using the drop-down box below the
chart, you can group the bars by year or location.

Using the "Colors show" drop-down, you can also alter what the different colors represent on the chart. If you
have selected more than one indicator, you will see a third drop-down that lets you further customize the chart.

The two following charts show the same data but displayed differently, one is grouped by year while the other is
grouped by location.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 14
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Removing locations, indicators, and time frames
You can remove a location, indicator, or year by clicking next to it. That data will be deleted from the table and
chart.

Accessing maps from a Data and Chart page
You can get fast access to maps from the Data & Charts page by clicking on any data value in a table. For
example, in the table below, each data value in the row for "Homeownership rate" is a live link. If you drag your
mouse over a value, a pop-up box will tell you what map will be produced if you click on the value. In this table,
clicking on the 34.5% value under 1990 for San Francisco takes you to a map showing variations in
homeownership rates in San Francisco.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 15
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Accessing Data and Charts from other pages

Just as you can move quickly from a Data & Chart page to a map, you can also quickly link to tables and charts
from other types of data displays.

From any , you can link to a table or chart of any indicator for a single location and then add data
and locations. Click the Chart link at the far right in the row for an indicator.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 16
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
From any page, you can link to tables and charts that compare multiple indicators or locations
simultaneously. To display all the indicators in a particular category on a single chart and table, click the Chart all
link at the far right, across from the indicator heading.

If you're comparing multiple locations on a Key Indicators page, you can chart how the locations compare on any
given indicator by clicking the "Compare" link on the far right.

Printing and saving tables and charts
To print or save a PDF version of a table and chart, click on the link above the table. A new window will
display your table and chart in PDF format, ready for printing.

If you're a registered DataPlace user and are logged in to the site, you can save a table and chart to your My
DataPlace area and access it whenever you want. Click on the link above the table.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 17
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Scatterplot

Scatterplots are a powerful visualization tool that let you compare many locations and data at the same time, on 2
dimensions. You can access scatterplots by clicking the Scatterplot link near the top of the screen.

On DataPlace Scatterplots, each dot represents a place (a State, County, Zip Code, etc.). Each axis of the
scatterplot represents a different indicator.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 18
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Changing the Scatterplot

You control the scatterplot using the blue panel on the right side.

Here you'll find options to change each of these things:

1. What type of places are being compared? This changes what the dots represent. You can select States,
Counties, Metropolitan Areas, Zip Codes, Cities and Tracts.

2. What areas do you want to include? This would for example let you compare just counties in Texas, or
Census Tracts within Washington D.C.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 19
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
3. What indicator do you want to show on each axis? Clicking will let you choose a different
indicator to show.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 20
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
4. Display Options lets you clone your current scatterplot so you can make up to 4 independently controllable
scatterplots. Once you do this, click on the plot you want to control, then use the blue box to make changes to
that plot.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 21
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
5. "Show correlation line" -- check this box to add a blue "best-fit line" to the scatterplot, as well as computing
the statistical "r" factor that measures the amount of correlation between the two indicators you've selected.

Printing and Saving Scatterplots

At the top of the page you can use the print and save features. Click 'print' to print the scatterplots to your printer.
When you click 'save' you will be given the option to name the page that will be stored in My DataPlace.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 22
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Guide for Rankings with DataPlace

Getting Started

The Rankings feature of DataPlace provides a simple way to see how your area of interest compares with other
locations on a given indicator. You can also specify a geographic boundary that defines which locations are
included in your rankings. For example, you can rank all counties in the nation, or limit your rankings to just those
counties within a specific state. To start, click on the link at the top of the DataPlace home page.

Features of Rankings page

The default Rankings page shows states ranked in descending order by total population.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 23
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
• Histograms. Next to each indicator in the area overview or on the rankings page is a histogram -- a graphical
representation of an indicator's frequency distribution. The horizontal x-axis is the range of all the statistics for
an indicator. The rightmost side of the axis representing the highest part of the range and the left axis
representing the lowest part of the range. DataPlace shrinks or expands the x-axis so that it is always the
same length from left to right. The vertical y-axis shows the number of places at each interval on the x-axis;
higher bars represent more places, shorter bars represent fewer places.

If looking at an indicator for a county, you'll see the histogram comparing that county to other counties in the
US; states will be compared to states, tracts with tracts, and so on. A red bar represents where the particular
place you're looking at falls on the x-axis. The y-axis shows your location and how many or few locations like
the one you're looking at exist within the US for that particular indicator.

Consider the histogram for California's population in the histogram above. The 2000 Census had the
population of California to be 33,871,648. Because California was the most populous state in the nation, and
because it is alone in its large population, the red rectangle representing California is a small blip for the y-
axis because it's the only state with that population. When it is the only one, the blip is small. Because it is
the most populous, and because the x-axis depicts of the entire range of values -- in this case state
populations -- the red blip is also farthest to the right on the x-axis.

Histograms take some getting used to. Look at the top 30 in the rankings page for a view of how they change
from most populous to least populous. You'll find that the red blip moves down the scale from highest to
lowest.

• Paging. You can move up and down the rankings by using the links at the bottom right of any ranking page.
Click the Next 21 link to view the next page of state population rankings.

• Sort order. You can change your sort order by clicking the indicator link the top of the page. For example, on
the default Rankings page, clicking on the Total population 2000 link reverses the sort order from
descending to ascending, showing Wyoming as the least populous state in the nation.

District of Columbia is included in the rankings list as the second least populous "state." The District of
Columbia is included in any state ranking on DataPlace.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 24
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Changing indicators

To the right of the rankings list, the yellow box labeled "Choose data to show" provides several options for
selecting an indicator to display.

2. Popular: This link displays the five most popular indicators among users of DataPlace.

3. Recently Used: This link displays the indicators that you've previously selected in your current DataPlace
session.

4. Search For An Indicator. Type a key word -- such as "poverty" or "subprime" -- in the search box and hit
Search to see all the indicators that contain the search term. You can refine your search by adding other key
words or removing search terms by clicking .

5. Browse all the indicators on DataPlace Topic or Source: These links let you browse all the indicators on
DataPlace by specific topics or data sources, with links to subcategories. For example, selecting the
"Housing" link takes us to the "Find Indicators" pop-up box with a list of all housing-related indicators in
DataPlace. To narrow the search, type "overcrowding" in the search box. The search results show four
DataPlace indicators related to overcrowding.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 25
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Select "Pct. housing units that are overcrowded" and click on the add link to the left of this indicator. That
adds the indicator to the rankings page. After closing the "Find Indicators" box, you see that the states are
ranked in descending order on the selected indicator, with Hawaii having the highest overcrowding rate of
15.4 percent.

The similar rates for Hawaii and California are reflected by their red histogram bars, which fall to the far right.
The gap between their rates and the third highest rate -- Texas, at 9.4 percent -- likewise is reflected by the
gap in the histogram to the right of Texas' red bar.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 26
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Changing geographic areas

To change the geographic unit on which an indicator is ranked, go to the "Modify rankings" box to the right of the
ranking table. From the example above, selecting "Tracts" refreshes the page to show all census tracts in the
nation ranked by overcrowding rate. Other geographic areas available through the drop-down are metropolitan
area, county, and city.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 27
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Restricting locations

To narrow the geographic scope of the ranking table, go to the < Choose a different boundary link in the “Modify
Rankings” box. The "Choose a place" pop-up box appears. Following the example above, to identify the most
overcrowded census tracts in Washington DC, select "States" in the pop-up box and then "District of Columbia."

NeighborhoodInfo DC 28
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Rank each Census Tract w ithin Washington
Finally, click the button to refresh the table so it ranks only census
tracts in Washington DC.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 29
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
To further narrow the rankings by population limits, go to the "With minimum population" drop-down to the right of
the table. For example, choosing 5,000 from the drop-down would reduce the list of overcrowded tracts in the
District of Columbia to the 16 tracts with at least 5,000 people.

The < Choose a different boundary function can also be used to show where a particular location falls in a larger
ranking. From our example, to find out where the highest ranked census tract, Tract 11001-0025.02, falls in the
national list on overcrowding rate, click on < Choose a different boundary and select "USA" from the top of the
Rank each Census Tract w ithin USA
pop-up box. Then hit the button. To quickly find Tract 11001-0025.02's spot in
the national list, begin typing " Tract 11001-0025.02" into the search box at the top of the screen. The text auto-
completer gives a choice of geographic areas that match what's being typed, ranking those areas based on
population.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 30
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Selecting Tract 11001-0025.02, from the auto-complete list takes us to the page in the overcrowding ranking that
contains Tract 11001-0025.02, highlighted in blue. The list shows that Tract 11001-0025.02, ranks 3715th among
all census tracts in the nation.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 31
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006
Adding extra indicators to see other rankings for a given area

Once you've pinpointed a location's rank on a particular indicator (such as Tract 11001-0025.02, on overcrowding
above), you can quickly see its rank on other indicators. Choose a new indicator using the links in the blue
"Choose data to show" box. Selecting an indicator produces a new ranking list and takes you to the page where
the featured location, again highlighted in blue, falls. In the example below, 11001-0025.02, ranks 14,760th
among all tracts in the nation by poverty rate.

NeighborhoodInfo DC 32
th
Last updated April 7 , 2006

Related docs