A Manual How To Use Online Analysis Tools

Transcription

1 A Manual How To Use Online Analysis Tools

2 How To Use Online Analysis Tools By using the V-Dem analysis and visualisation tool, a user can analyse the development of democracy from 1900 to There are 329 indicators of democracy to chose from and generate graphs for one country or a group of countries. In order to access the V-Dem analysis tool, please log in to the V-Dem website on: and proceed to the folder ANALYSIS, also available at: There are several interfaces that allow to generate and compare graphs of the data for selected countries, quickly generate an own world map of any V-Dem indicator, explore the motion chart, compare the distribution of answers at coder level, check the relationships between conceptions, components, subcomponents, and indicators. The visualisations include: 1. Drill-Down Graphs: single-variable graph and single-country graph p.3 2. Maps p.5 3. Motion charts p.5 4. Distribution Charts p.6 5. Conceptual Scheme p.7 2

3 1. Drill-Down Graphs: single-variable graph and single-country graph Graphs enable users to plot either the specific indicators or aggregated components from 1900 to They come in two versions: single-variable line graphs, which allow users to compare multiple countries on one question; and single-country line graphs, which allow users to compare multiple series for one country. This interactive feature was custom-designed for V-Dem s unique multiple levels of data. 1a. Single-Variable Graph This tool can be used for comparing ONE INDICATOR across SEVERAL COUNTRIES. Menus below the graph window allow users to select the questions, countries, and date range to be graph. Users also have the option of including a confidence indicator in the graph, which is displayed as a dotted line of the same color as the line of the country or indicator to which it corresponds. Please choose your parameters (country, year range and questions) and click "Generate Graph". An example shows a comparison between Afghanistan, Benin and Brazil on indicator Power distribution by gender ( ). Each country is plotted in a different color and thickness so that it is possible to distinguish the lines both on the computer screen and when printed in grayscale. Mousing over the graph reveals the score for each series for the corresponding year. Users can also click and drag to zoom in on a smaller range of dates; toggle displayed series on and off to make 3

4 crowded graphs easier to read; and use the menu at the upper left to save the graph as a picture or PDF file that can be pasted into documents and slides. The box at the lower right displays the full texts of all the selected questions and their response options so that their interpretations clear. In the single-country graphs, all series are rescaled to a 0 to 4 interval so that the highest and lowest values are more comparable. When an aggregated component is graphed, a user can click on it, making it fade into the background. It is then overlaid with sharper lines corresponding to the subcomponents or specific indicators that were used to construct the component. 1b. Single Country Graph This can be used for comparing SEVERAL INDICATORS in ONE COUNTRY. The same instructions apply as for the Single-Variable Graph: menus below the graph window allow users to select the questions, countries, and date range to be graph, users also have the option of including a confidence indicator in the graph. Please choose your parameters (country, year range and questions) and click "Generate Graph". An example compares the indicators Freedom of academic and cultural expression, Freedom of foreign movement and Freedom of religion in Cambodia ( ). 4

5 2. MAPS The Maps tool enables users to quickly generate their own world map of any V-Dem indicator for any year from 1946 to Users simply select a year and an indicator and click Draw. Maps like the one at left appear within seconds. Scores are represented in shades of purple (to match the website and logo color scheme), with darker colors usually corresponding to higher values and lighter colors corresponding to less democratic values. For most of our variables, higher values are more democratic. The texts of the questions and responses appear below the map, along with a legend identifying the colors. Clicking on a country reveals its name and score. Users can zoom in infinitely using the + and - buttons or reposition the map by clicking and dragging. 3. Motion Charts (in development) Motion Charts are a visualization tool originally developed by the Gapminder Institute in Sweden. Our website currently uses a version of this software made public by Google. Motion Charts are interactive, animated scatterplots that are very useful for exploring how the relationship between two variables changes over time. They are most appropriate for working with continuous indicators such as the ones already available in this tool: Access to Media, an Egalitarianism scale, State Control over Population, State Control over Territory, population, and per capita GDP. As we develop other scales, they will be added to the motion chart menu. The summary Freedom House and Polity indices are included here (and in all the analysis tool menus) for comparison. In a typical motion chart such as the one 5

6 depicted here, each bubble is a country, the size of the bubble is proportional to population, and the color of the bubble identifies the region. The two variables to be displayed can be selected using the drop-down menus on the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) axes, and any of them can be plotted on either a linear or a log scale. Mousing over a bubble causes the country name to pop up. Ticking the box for a country displays its name on the graph and makes the non-selected countries fade. Most importantly, hitting the play button at the lower left advances the years, making each country s bubble move smoothly from one pair of coordinates to the next. Users can control the speed of playback. If the Trails box is ticked, the animation traces lines showing where each selected country has been. Tabs at the upper right will also produce a bar chart and a line graph. 4. Distribution Charts Distribution Charts are useful for examining the percentage of responses in each category for the question, country, and date range they select. Legends give both the question and response texts and the percentages of responses in each category. Tables for this can be generated for a single question on one or multiple countries. 6

7 Please select your parameters (question, year range and countries to be compared) and click "Generate Graph". The example above generates a graph for experts answers on the indicator Election free and fair for Tanzania, Uganda, Venezuela and Zimbabwe ( ). Please note that for all graphs you generate, you are able to: Mouse over graphs to find the scores for a specific year Click and drag a range of years within a graph to zoom in chronologically Save the graph in various formats 5. Conceptual Scheme The relationships between conceptions, components, subcomponents, and indicators can be represented by a tree diagram. In the example below, the most general concept, democracy, is at the left, and increasingly specific concepts branch out to the right: 7

8 The above is only a brief exemplary selection of the conceptual relationships. THE V-DEM TEAM IS STILL WORKING ON THE FINAL TAXONOMY. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THIS IS A PRELIMINARY SKETCH ONLY FO RILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES. THANK YOU. These analysis tools were made possible by generous support from the University of Notre Dame's Office of Research, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Center for Creative Computing, and Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts; the European Commission/EuroAID; and the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Research Council of Norway. 8