Assignments

ISSS608 Visual Analytics and Applications

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Assignment Dropbox

To be a Visual Detective

The assignments require you to put the concepts, methods and techniques you had learned in class to solve real world problem using visual analytics techniques. Students should also use the assignments to gain hands-on experience on using the data visualisation toolkits I had shared with you to complate the assignment.

Overview

Smartpolis is a major metropolitan area with a population of approximately two million residents. During the last few days, health professionals at local hospitals have noticed a dramatic increase in reported illnesses.

Observed symptoms are largely flu­like and include fever, chills,sweats, aches and pains, fatigue, coughing, breathing difficulty, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, and enlarged lymph nodes. More recently, there have been several deaths believed to be associated with the current outbreak. City officials fear a possible epidemic and are mobilizing emergency management resources to mitigate the impact. You have been charged with providing an assessment of the situation.

We provide you with two datasets. The first one contains microblog messages collected from various devices with GPS capabilities. These devices include laptop computers, handheld computers, and cellular phones. The second one contains map information for the entire metropolitan area. The map dataset contains a satellite image with labeled highways, hospitals, important landmarks, and water bodies. We also provide supplemental tables for population statistics and observed weather data. Additional information is provided in the README file

Task

Origin and Epidemic Spread

Identify approximately where the outbreak started on the map (ground zero location). Outline the affected area. Explain how you arrived at your conclusion. (Please limit your answer to six images and 500 words.)

Epidemic Spread

• Present a hypothesis on how the infection is being transmitted. For example, is the method of transmission person-­to­-person, airborne, waterborne, or something else? Identify the trends that support your hypothesis. (Please limit your answer to ten images and 1000 words.)

• Is the outbreak contained? Is it necessary for emergency management personnel to deploy treatment resources outside the affected area? Explain your reasoning. (Please limit your answer to ten images and 1000 words. )

Visualisation Software

To perform the visual analysis, students are encouraged to explore any one or a combination of the following software:

• Tableau
• JMP Pro
• Qlik Sense
• Microsoft Power BI

One of the goals of this assignment is for you to learn to use and evaluate the effectiveness of these visual analytics tools.

Submission details

This is an individual assignment. You are required to work on the assignment and prepare submission individually. Your completed assignment is due on 15th October 2017, by 11.59pm mid-night.

You need to edit your assignment in the appropriate wiki page of the Assignment Dropbox. The title of the wiki page should be in the form of: ISS608_2017-18_T1_Assign_FullName.

The assignment wiki page should include the URL link to the web-based interactive data visualization system prepared.

Reference

Past assignment by ISSS608 students

• Dino Holmes Series
• Mystery at the Wildlife Preserve
• Visual Image Analysis

Assignment Q&A

Need more clarification, please feel free to pen down your questions.