Discussion #7: Concept Map
As you may appreciate from this module’s readings about Data Visualization, it is not a process to hurry but one that requires thoughtful construction. You may spend almost as much time creating visualizations for your work as you do drafting your research questions and selecting theoretical and methodological frameworks.
While you have a lot of datasets from this week, we won’t be trying to visualize them immediately. You probably haven’t spent enough time with them to know where to begin and you certainly haven’t had the time to dig deep into a dataviz tool. So instead we’ll be starting with a very basic exercise as suggested by Laura Gogia (https://googleguacamole.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/an-exercise-in-simple-data-visualization/).
Try following her example and create a simple concept map. I would suggest drawing upon the work you have been doing this week to develop a concept map of your research area, possible methods, or theories you may be drawing on. If you can’t think of anything follow along with the example she provides in the article.
Concept maps are a great way for thinking about taking complex information, laying it out in a way to communicate effectively to both yourself and an audience. They don’t need to be super complicated and can be made in Word/PowerPoint/drawn or whatever you have at hand. For context, here are two conceptual mappings Dr. Bridget Blodgett used in her dissertation proposal. Although only one made it through to her dissertation, the other was fantastic for helping to organize how items were layering.
Submit your concept map to our discussion forum. Make sure to respond to at least two (2) of your peers.
