Blog Post- Visualizing Benchmarks in Data Journalism
Visualization Chosen:
A great example of benchmark visualization is found in the Wall Street Journal's graphic titled "What's Your Pay Gap?" This visualization examines the gender pay gap across various occupations in the United States. It uses a combination of symbols and color to represent data points and benchmarks.
https://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/WSJNewsPaper-5-19-2025.pdf
The graphic presents a scatter plot where each point represents an occupation. The x-axis is the median salary for women annually, while the y-axis represents the median annual earnings for men. Each point is color-coded, blue for occupations where women earn more than men, and red for those where men earn more than women. The size of each point correlates with the number of people employed in that occupation, providing a layer of context.
The benchmark in this visualization is represented by a diagonal line running from the bottom-left to the top-right corner. This line indicates where women's and men's earnings are equal. Points above this line indicate occupations where women earn more than men, while points below it show where men earn more than women. This clear example allows viewers to quickly assess the relative pay disparities across different occupations.
The use of the diagonal line as a benchmark is highly effective for this data. It provides an immediate visual cue that helps viewers understand the extent of the gender pay gap across various occupations. The color coding further enhances this by allowing for a quick visualization of trends and outliers. Additionally, the size of the points adds depth to the data, highlighting occupations with larger workforces. Overall, this visualization successfully combines multiple elements to present a complex issue in a digestible and engaging manner.
I really like how effective the chart is but I think your analysis of it is off. For example, I don't think that there is an x-axis. Median salaries for both genders are both measured with the y-axis, and for each occupation you get a vertical pair of male and female median salaries and thus the significance of the chart comes from seeing that the female median salary for a given occupation is almost always below that of the male median salary for said occupation. I also don't see any diagonal line or differences in dot sizes, so perhaps you are referring to a chart that you forgot to include; I would have checked the website but the link doesn't work.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a really strong explanation. I think it was a really nice touch in talking about the color and how the color point and size makes a big change in the overall visual of the graph. It tells a story thats easy to understand and breakdown. I like your breakdown about how the line on the graph represents the equlity. I thought this was an really good way of making the graph easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteI think you explained this visual very well by explaining where the benchmark is and why its useful in this chart. This chart is useful for being able to provide complex data in a visually appealing way that helps us as viewers understand the data we are looking at. Overall, good post!
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