Information Visualization
CMSC 838B
Spring 2003
Prof. Ben Bederson
Homework #3
Due February 21st, 2003
Get some experience using existing visualization tools
I would like you to get some experience using existing visualization tools. For this assignment, you must use two representations listed below to analyze a multivariate (5 or more dimensions) dataset of your choosing. You can either find your own data set and try to load it into the tool(s), or you can use one of the datasets that are distributed with the tool. (You don't have to look at the same dataset in each tool). For each visualization, analyze the dataset - try to understand what kinds of hidden patterns are in the dataset, start with some hypotheses and see if they are true, etc. Then, write a small (approximately two pages plus pictures) report describing your hypotheses, what you found, and how well the tool worked in helping you understand the data. Conclude by comparing and contrasting the two visualizations explaining the strengths and weaknesses of each.
Some tools you can use for this homework (or any others you find):