Data visualisation – the visual representation of data in charts and graphs – has grown in popularity as an effective form of communication between media outlets and research organisations to the general public. Data visualisations help attract the attention of a wide audience and speed their understanding on the topic. 

Prachi Salve, senior policy analyst for IndiaSpend, India’s first data journalism initiative, explains:

“Data visualisation helps to break down hard [to understand] numbers into simpler graphs and charts, making it visually appealing for readers. Long, dry and boring stories can be explained in short using interactive charts and infographics.”

The Data Visualisation: Contributions to evidence-based decision making report builds on the experiences of producing data visualisations and provides insights from broader sectors of research communication. Read the report to find out more about when to invest in data visualisations and how it can be applied to policy and practice!

The Community Data Program also offers six different DIY Infographics - these are blank, ready-to-use, fillable templates that use data from the CDP catalogue. 

If you have produced a report using data from the catalogue, please let us know so we can share it with our members in the Community Snapshots section! You can do this by filling in a snapshot template and sending it to information@communitydata.ca.