ESPN Data Visualization
Below you will find some of the best data visualizations on the web via ESPN’s website. On the bottom right of ESPN’s homepage, there is a poll of the day usually involving breaking news or a hot sports topics.
Below is one example of the daily poll.
Once you click the vote button, the results are posted in the form of a horizontal bar chart with values list at the end (shown below). Also, they show the total number of votes cast so you can determine how statistically significant the results are. Finally, you can click on the View Map button to see the results displayed on a map.
Below is one example where there were only two options. I imagine the voting system uses the location of the IP address to determine where you are voting from. The states in blue voted ‘Yes’ and the ones in red voted ‘No’. The states shown in gray split the votes and didn’t fall one way or the other.
The image below has an example of another poll where Tiger Woods ran away with the votes. I point out this example because if you look at Montana, you will see that the state is blue. However, when you look closer (it’s hard to see here) you can see that there was only one vote cast. Not significantly significant if you ask me. Also, notice that Alaska is in black due to no votes being cast.
Below you will see yet another example. The international results are located in the globe on the right to see how the votes tally outside of the United States.
Finally, the last example shows that most of the U.S. thought that the Dallas Cowboys were going to the Super Bowl…
I like these data visualizations because they are interactive, intuitive and valuable. Also, ESPN uses bar charts instead of pie charts, which always helps with the graphs. I like to see how my home state votes on different topics and often find it interesting how biased states are toward local sports figures or teams. Shown above, you can see that 81% of voters in Texas thought the Cowboys were going to the Super Bowl compared to 60% of all voters.
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