Congressional Budget Office

Telling Visual Stories About Data

Presentation for the: Seminar on Independent Budget Analysis & Transparency A Global Network of Parliamentary Budget Offices Community Meeting

Peter Fontaine Assistant Director for Budget Analysis June 2014

Know Your Audience

Members of Congress and Staff

explanatory exploratory

static

interactive

How CBO Communicates

Reports

Policy options, spreadsheet

Chartbooks

Snapshots

Presentations

Before

After

Infographics

Use Best Practices

Show the Data

Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011

Show the Data

Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011

0-axis thicker than data line

Show the Data

Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011

Tick marks probably unnecessary

0-axis thicker than data line

Show the Data

Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011

Label and %-sign are redundant 0-axis thicker

than data line

Tick marks probably unnecessary

Show the Data

Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011

Abbreviations make comprehension difficult

0-axis thicker than data line

Tick marks probably unnecessary

Label and %-sign are redundant

Show the Data

Jacob Klerman and Caroline Danielson, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2011

Data points are outside the axis bounds

0-axis thicker than data line

Tick marks probably unnecessary

Label and %-sign are redundant

Abbreviations make comprehension difficult

Implied Impulse Response Functions for Different Caseloads(Percentage change in caseload)

-20

-10

0

10

20

0 1 2 3 4 5

Years

Adult Only

0 1 2 3 4 5

Years

No Cash

-20

-10

0

10

20

0 1 2 3 4 5

Years

Welfare Cash Assistance

0 1 2 3 4 5

Years

SSI Cash Assistance

Show the Data

Gordon Hanson, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2012

Reduce Clutter

Reduce Clutter

Integrate Text and Graphics

Social Security Advisory Board, Aspects of Disability Decision Making: Data and Materials, February 2012

Integrate Text and Graphics

Use Appropriate

Tools

Excel

Stata

SAS

Open Office

R

Tableau

JavaScript

Google Charts

Standard Tools

Newer Tools

If your tool doesn’t let you create the visualization you want, get a different tool.

Do the figures in this report illustrate its main points?

What should the reader learn from the figure?

Is the figure understandable outside the confines of the report?

The purpose of visualization is insight, not pictures -Ben Shneiderman

References

Slide

7. CBO, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024, www.cbo.gov/publication/45010, February 2014

8-9. CBO, Social Security Policy Options, www.cbo.gov/publication/21547, July 2010

10. CBO, A Premium Support System for Medicare: Analysis of Illustrative Options, www.cbo.gov/publication/44581, September 2013

11. CBO, The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024, www.cbo.gov/publication/45010, February 2014

13. CBO, Rising Demand for Long-Term Services and Supports for Elderly People, www.cbo.gov/publication/44363, June 2013

14-15. CBO, The Distribution of Federal Spending and Taxes in 2006, www.cbo.gov/publication/44698, November 2013

17. CBO, Snapshot of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, www.cbo.gov/publication/44131, April 2013

18. CBO, Snapshot of Unemployment Benefits, www.cbo.gov/publication/44096, March 2013

References, continued

Slide

20. CBO, Federal Health Care Spending: Why Is It Growing? What Could Be Done About It? www.cbo.gov/publication/44761 , September 2013

21. CBO, Federal Health Care Spending: Why Is It Growing? What Could Be Done About It? www.cbo.gov/publication/45144, February 2014

22. CBO, The Federal Budget: Outlook and Challenges, www.cbo.gov/publication/44378, June 2013

24-27. CBO, The U.S. Federal Budget: Infographic, www.cbo.gov/publication/42636, December 2011

28-32. CBO, Federal Means-Tested Programs and Tax Credits—Infographic, www.cbo.gov/publication/43935, February 2013

33. CBO, The Long-Term Budget Outlook: Infographic, www.cbo.gov/publication/43289, June 2012

35-45. Jonathan Schwabish, “An Economist’s Guide to Visualizing Data,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/jep.28.1.209, Winter 2014