Data Dive 3.6

Which students are struggling most?

Two adults, two different answers. Can they both be right?

You will need paper and a pencil, and a browser for step 3

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Step 1 of 5 · Your guess

What do you think?

A school counselor says the students struggling most are the ones who get bullied.

The school nurse says it is the ones who never get to play a sport. They are talking about the same students.

Write it down before you lookWho do you think is right: the counselor, or the nurse? Write it down, and why.
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Step 2 of 5 · Look

Ten measures, one line per group

Twenty-nine groups of American teenagers, ten measures eachCDC National Health Interview Survey - one line is a group, not a person▲ worsebullied55.925.4▲ worseanxiety43.312.3▲ worsedepression37.310.1▼ worseregularbedtime74.550.4▼ worseactive 60min69.849▼ worsesportsteam7439▼ worseparentsupport73.141.6▼ worsepeersupport56.743.3▲ worsescreentime2h98.185.7▲ worsefair orpoorhealth14.65.5the other 26 groupsthe two richer income groupsteens under 200% of the poverty line

American teenagers, from a national CDC health survey. The poorest group is in yellow.

How to read it. Each line is one group of teenagers, such as one age or one family income. It crosses ten measures, like bullying, sleep and sports. A small arrow above each measure shows which end is the bad end.

Find out
  1. Follow the yellow line. On bullying, is it high or low?
  2. Is it the same on the other measures?
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Step 3 of 5 · Try it

Now you try it, on the same data

This opens the pool, the site's chart tool. The words in bold below are buttons and menus you will see on the screen.

Do these five things

Open the pool on this file: data.sfhsbta.com/thepool?file=nhis_teen_group_profiles.csv&mark=parallel

  1. Hover the line for Less than 200% FPL, teens from families earning under twice the poverty line. Follow it from left to right.
  2. For each measure, write down which end is bad. Five of the ten are bad when they are high.
  3. Count: on how many of the ten measures is the poorest group the worst of the three income groups?
  4. Drag the measure names so bullied sits next to sports_team. Watch what the yellow line does between them.
  5. Find one other group whose line does the same thing: better on one measure, worse on most.
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Step 4 of 5 · Say it

Your answer, in one sentence

I think the <counselor or nurse is closer> because <what the chart shows> and I checked it by <what you did to the chart>.

The last part matters most. It shows you did not just look at the chart, you tested it.

Here is one exampleI think the nurse is closer, because the poorest teens report less bullying than richer teens but are worst on most other measures, including sports. I checked by dragging sports team next to bullied, and the yellow line fell from the top to the bottom.
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Step 5 of 5 · What you found

Check your numbers

8 of 10
measures where the poorest teens are worst of the three income groups
2
measures where they look best: bullying and screen time
28.5
points behind on playing a team sport
The big idea: one measure is not the whole storyA group can look best on one measure and worst on almost everything else. Anyone who shows you only that one number has told the truth and still misled you. To understand a group, look at many measures at once.
One more thing to think aboutBullying here is what teens reported themselves. A lower number might mean less bullying, or fewer teens calling it bullying. Which do you think it is?
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After the dive

The charts you used today

parallel coordinates

Each line is one thing traced across every column. Watch for the line that cuts against the grain — that’s your odd one out.

What it leaves outOnly neighbouring axes can really be compared, so the order you put them in decides which relationships a reader can see.

library · ladder · dives · the pool · this dive’s worksheet

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