Author: doshin

Neha’s Data Log 2/23

Chatting With People

I had two long phone calls on Sunday. First, with my dad and then with a friend. The phone call with the friend was made over WhatsApp. In addition to speaking on the phone, I used iMessage and WhatsApp to chat communicate with a total of 9 people.

Moving Around Town

I took a long walk with a friend on Sunday morning–the weather was fantastic! We walked from my house in Somerville to Bagelsaurus where I used my credit card to purchase an Everything Bagel. We then walked down to Harvard Square and towards the Mt. Auburn area. There, I made a stop at Darwins to purchase a coffee with my credit card. While walking, my internet remained connected to my Verizon data. We then walked along the Charles and finally looped back to my house in Somerville. After the walk, I did not leave my house that day.

Getting Online

I spent a considerable amount of time on the internet. I had to write a policy memo for another class, and needed to research the impact of climate change on water infrastructure in Chennai. I browsed through news publications (NPR, Washington Post, Caravan, Scroll, NYT, The Hindu, Times of India, etc). I also browsed publications from the OECD, World Bank, Observer Research Foundation, and USAID. I logged into the MIT library network to pursue academic articles, Stella and Harvard Canvas to check on other assignments. I typically do my writing on google docs, so I was also logged into my google account. While procrastinating on my research and writing, I watched a few episodes of Veep on Amazon Prime, browsed through Instagram, and Facebook. I also listened to a few live musical performances on YouTube.

Other Things

Since I didn’t leave the house, other then to take a walk, I don’t think I left as much of a data trail as I normally would have. I am careless about closing apps on my phone, and typically have WhatsApp, Instagram, FB Messenger, Safari, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Maps, and Blue Bike on in the background. I imagine that though not in use, they might be passively collecting my location data.

The Opportunity Atlas

Link: https://www.opportunityatlas.org

The Opportunity Atlas is an interactive data tool that visualizes and spatializes children’s outcomes in the U.S., defined by a slew of metrics, in their adulthood. To test out this tool, I zoomed in on my hometown Hixson, TN to see how children who grew up there fared later in life. For example, children from Hixson, TN who grew up in the poorest of households are likely to see little income mobility, though they fare better than their counterparts in neighboring census tract.  

The project aims to bring to life the multitude of factors that determine socio-economic mobility in the U.S. The tool allows users to test their own assumptions on income inequality, race, gender, place and space in the land of eternal promise. The Atlas draws on anonymized U.S. Decennial Census data from 2000 and 2010, Federal income tax return data, and the American Communities Surveys (ACS) data from 2005-2015 all combined to create one large dataset covering nearly the entire U.S. population.

The Atlas is accessible to the general public, but complex enough to appeal to social science students and scholars. Users can select pre-made stories to explore specific topics such as the effect of moving from one neighborhood to another in Chicago. Those interested in using the tool to answer their own questions can customize the map using panels to select outcomes of interest and neighborhood and demographic characteristics. Data can also be downloaded for those seeking to conduct their own research. 

 The Atlas, at large, is quite effective in achieving its goal. Aesthetically, the maps are pleasing with census tracts painted in pleasant pastels. The pre-made stories walk novice users through a series of maps and graphs that answer address issues faced by cities like Chicago and Detroit, using data to draw insights on complex urban issues such as the neighborhood effect.  The tool assumes a basic proficiency with statistics and can be difficult to use beyond its basic offerings.