Assignment 1: Data, Visualization, and Housing

This first assignment will give you a gentle introduction to the key ideas of this course: how can we use data and visualization to analyze, communicate, and ultimately affect policy around the housing affordability crisis.

Due: Mon 2/12, 11:59 pm ET
Submit on the class forum →

Table of contents

• Your Tasks
• News Articles
• Grading

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Your Tasks

1. Select two news articles from the list below.

2. For each article, write a two paragraph comment. Your comment should not summarize the article. Rather, focus on analyzing both the topic of the article (i.e., the issues related to housing) and reflecting on the use of data and visualization to communicate the information. Here are some prompts to help spark your thinking:

   • What did you learn about housing from the article?
     • What do you appreciate about the arguments it is making, and what critiques or points of disagreement might you have? Why?
     • How did the article confirm or shift your prior understanding?
     • How did it help you identify and question assumptions you had been making?
     • How has the article changed (or not) your opinion or outlook on the topic?
   • How effectively (or not!) did the article use data and visualization to make its point(s)?
     • How well did visual design choices (e.g., chart type, colors, layout, etc.) help reveal the important features or trends of the underlying data in a straightforward fashion? Or how much work did you need to do to understand what is being shown?
     • If the visualization was interactive or animated, how did these bits of dynamic behavior help convey the takeaway message? Or were they more distracting than helpful? Was it clear how to begin interacting, and was performing the interaction satisfying or worth the effort?
     • What about the “smaller details”? For instance, how were titles, labels, and annotations used to help guide your attention to the key pieces of information, and help explain how to read the chart? Or were you/would you have preferred to have been left to your own devices?

3. Post your comment to the class forum under the thread corresponding to the article you are commenting on. You are welcome to structure your submission as either commenting on the article directly, or as a response to the points made by one of your colleagues.

News Articles

Please select two articles to comment on from the following list. Note, we have used “gift” links but these may expire—if you hit a paywall, please let us know by posting on the class forum and we will issue new links accordingly.

• The Secret Bias Hidden in Mortgage-Approval Algorithms, The Markup. [forum post]
• When Private Equity Becomes Your Landlord, ProPublica. [forum post]
• The housing market is cooling. What’s it like in your area?, The Washington Post. [forum post]
• The Housing Shortage Isn’t Just a Coastal Crisis Anymore, The New York Times. [forum post]
• Cities Start to Question an American Ideal: A House With a Yard on Every Lot, The New York Times. [forum post]
• In 83 Million Eviction Records, a Sweeping and Intimate New Look at Housing in America, The New York Times. [forum post]
• Mass. has a huge waitlist for state-funded housing. So why are 2,300 units vacant?, WBUR. [forum post]
• Where we build homes helps explain America’s political divide, The Washington Post. [forum post]
• Houses are too expensive. Apartments are too small. Is this a fix?, The Washington Post. [forum post]

Grading

This assignment is worth 4 points, 2 points per comment. Comments will be graded on a check-minus/check/check-plus scale according to the following rubric:

• Check-minus (1/2): Surface-level engagement with the article including: summarizing the points made in the article, offering a high-level reflection without unpacking the “why”, relatively shallow analysis or critiques of the use of data and visualization, and other styles of comments that suggest only cursory readings of the article. Partially complete submissions may also earn a check-minus if appropriate.

• Check (2/2): Effective engagement with the article. Comments awarded check grades indicate that they understand the main ideas of the article, and the reflections and analysis are reasonable with nontrivial observations worth surfacing. We expect most comments to be awarded checks.

• Check-plus (3/2): Excellent engagement with the article. Check-plus grades are reserved for rare instances where a comment really hits on an interesting, unique, and insightful point of view. Generally only a few submissions for each paper earn a check-plus.