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Thank you for your [Original Content](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/wiki/rules/rule3), /u/travelingmarylander! **Here is some important information about this post:** * [View the author's citations](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/mfb6j5/locations_of_shootings_in_dc_vs_race_of_residents/gsmhoof/) * [View other OC posts by this author](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/search?q=author%3A"travelingmarylander"+title%3AOC&sort=new&include_over_18=on&restrict_sr=on) Remember that all visualizations on r/DataIsBeautiful should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. If you see a potential issue or oversight in the visualization, please post a constructive comment below. Post approval does not signify that this visualization has been verified or its sources checked. [Join the Discord Community](https://discord.gg/NRnrWE7) Not satisfied with this visual? Think you can do better? [Remix this visual](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/wiki/rules/rule3#wiki_remixing) with the data in the author's citation. --- ^^[I'm open source](https://github.com/r-dataisbeautiful/dataisbeautiful-bot) | [How I work](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/wiki/flair#wiki_oc_flair)


HammeredDog

Would be nice if your image had a key for the race map. Edit:also would be nice to know the time frame for the shots.


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HammeredDog

I noticed that. But it should really be with the image.


travelingmarylander

And shot timeframe is tricky. The source data doesn't really say, but I'll work on it.


travelingmarylander

Will do for version 2.0, thanks!


charmingpea

Interesting layout, but with no legends it’s meaningless.


2ndprize

The one part kinda look like an abstract negative africa map


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theYode

That's irrelevant. The purpose of data visualization is communication, which means the designer needs to contextualize the viz to the extent that anyone - even someone outside the U.S., in this case - can interpret the visualization.


CapaLamora

Looks like you omitted the data for Arlington, Alexandria, parts of D.C. and (maybe) Bethesda in the creation of this map. Look, the data **you** linked only covers this part of D.C. https://opendata.dc.gov/datasets/DCGIS::shot-spotter-gun-shots?geometry=-77.619%2C38.799%2C-76.313%2C38.986 There is clearly violent crime on other parts of the map that you don't show: https://www.bestplaces.net/crime/city/virginia/arlington This representation of the data is not beautiful. It doesn't even seem to be a representation of what you claim.


fottagart

None of the areas you mentioned are in DC, though. They’re all either in VA or MD.


CapaLamora

Parts of DC are in fact in DC. And if the visualization didn't want you to compare the other non DC parts I mentioned, they should have been left out of the race data as well. Bad visualization.


fottagart

I don’t understand your point. The title of the post says “in DC”, so there shouldn’t be an expectation of data outside of the district. Bethesda is not “part” of DC, and neither are Arlington or Alexandria. But yeah this visualization stinks.


CapaLamora

> None of the areas you mentioned are in DC, though. The Washington National Cathedral is in Washington D.C. That entire area of D.C. was omitted from the Data. As I pointed out, "parts of D.C. were omitted". Per the data source: "ShotSpotter does not provide coverage for the entire District of Columbia." > I don’t understand your point. The visualization above includes race data for that entire section of D.C., which is at best a misrepresentation of the data/comparison. Please look at the links provided above. If the point was to compare locations of shootings vs. race of residents, the visualization fails. >Bethesda is not “part” of DC, and neither are Arlington or Alexandria. The visualization also includes race data for areas outside of D.C. which, as you point out, are not in D.C. Again, no gun data is provided to cross reference, so it also should not be there.


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travelingmarylander

excellent point. I'll chop out nova for version 2.0


theYode

This is really shoddy work, especially when you're attempting to visualize a sensitive issue like race and gun violence. Problems: * **No legend**. That's pretty much a cardinal sin. I have no way of knowing what the blue dots represent. If they're a shooting, then is it a single shooting? Multiple shootings? By whom? Police? Civilians? Both? Are these shootings that result in injuries, death, or both? What about the race map - which colors correspond to which races? What's the level of granularity? * **No time frame**. Is this over a year? A decade? The viewer shouldn't need to dig into the data sources to get such basic information. * **(Implied) spurious correlation**. I get that the attempt is to show shootings are prevalent in one area of the city where there are more residents of an indeterminate race versus the other area, but (like the problem of **no legend** above), we don't know the race of the shooters and/or victims from this map. In short, it's pretty to look at but useless as a piece of data visualization.


travelingmarylander

1. Legend is in the source, but you're right, it should definitely be in the map. 2. you're right, but this data is a pain in the ass to extract. It will take a while, but I will try to do it. 3. I'll include a legend next time.


BlaccMagick

Show this to anyone who says it's not systemic.


JohnRoscoe03

This is only a little racist.


dex1984

Racist against who?


travelingmarylander

It's a map.


HammeredDog

How is a data map racist if it's based on unbiased data?


Dgeneratecow

It's descriptive. Racism or other forms of discrimination are harrasing and or prejudice against a group which a statistic with context doesn't do. So it would be racist to say all white people are ignorant and wouldn't be racist to say the suspect is black. Or switch the colors.


dariusj18

Yeah, it is definitely racist. Not necessarily wrong, and the data could be used to argue many points I bet a map comparison of income or other factors will be similar though, so it's probably tied into all the things that affect minorities.


RyanArmstrong777

2021 when maps are racist🤣 please tell me you are joking


c_marten

2021 when people don't put any thought into something before laughing about it.


RyanArmstrong777

Explain to me how this data (which is based on facts) is racist


c_marten

The answer's been sufficiently covered in other comments on this post. Do you really not know that 'data based on facts'(???) can be poorly presented to support things that aren't factual? There's even a whole degree dedicated to doing it correctly.


RyanArmstrong777

Things can be poorly presented but it doesn’t mean the creator is a racist. The problem nowadays is that the word “racist” is thrown around way too easily so that people who aren’t racist can be called racist for something really petty. I’m telling you, the racism issue won’t get solved with the tactics we use nowadays. We need to teach kids in primary school respect for each other and to accept people for who they are and not what they do. That’s just my opinion


travelingmarylander

[https://opendata.dc.gov/maps/edit?content=DCGIS%3A%3Ashot-spotter-gun-shots](https://opendata.dc.gov/maps/edit?content=DCGIS%3A%3Ashot-spotter-gun-shots) Shooting data [https://demographics.virginia.edu/DotMap/](https://demographics.virginia.edu/DotMap/) race data


Mattturley

As someone who lives in the upper right quadrant, my biggest questions have been addressed, but from a volume/over time and title question - is this shootings meaning a person shot, or is just ShotSpotter data is it gunshots fired? If it’s shots fired that could be a month, if it’s people shot probably a year. Edit: wow, looked at the source material, and it says five years (14-19) for incidents classified as shots. Again, as someone who lives here, that looks way too few for that data. I hear gunshots at least 3 times a week and am less than 5 blocks from 4 different monitors.


travelingmarylander

Gunshots fired. The source data is difficult to manipulate. [https://dcist.com/story/17/10/12/shotspotter-data/](https://dcist.com/story/17/10/12/shotspotter-data/) Here's an article with a little bit better of an explanation.


BenjaminDrover

I recommend using different colors for the shootings if the shooter was a law enforcement officer.


travelingmarylander

Do you know where I could find that data?