Common Pie Chart Misuses (and How to Fix Them)

This article highlights common misuses of pie charts —like having too many categories or using 3D designs—and provides practical fixes to improve your visualizations. Learn how to enhance clarity, make accurate comparisons, and choose the right chart type for your data, ensuring your visuals effectively communicate your message. Don’t let poor chart design distort your data!

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New Template: Stratified Sampling Tool (Single Strata)

Discover our new Stratified Sampling Tool template, designed for researchers and evaluators working with large datasets. Learn how to generate representative samples, ensure fair subgroup representation, and increase precision in your data collection. Includes both single strata and multiple stratum versions with step-by-step instructions.

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Data Visualization Applications: Line Charts

Explore the power of line charts in our ongoing series on data visualization. This article explains how to create impactful line charts using Excel 365. This tutorial not only guides you through chart creation but also emphasizes data visualization best practices to enhance clarity and professionalism. Whether you're new to charting or refining your skills, this article equips you with essential techniques for visually compelling data storytelling.

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Crafting Compelling Narratives: A Guide to Presenting Themes from Qualitative Data

Master the art of presenting themes effectively! Whether it's a report, summary, infographic, or presentation, the way you present your themes from thematic analysis can make or break your findings' impact. Tailor to your audience, provide solid context, organize logically, craft clear titles, bring themes to life with real quotes, offer deep analysis, use visuals wisely, and conclude with key insights. Elevate your thematic analysis presentations with these expert tips!

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Encrypting and Anonymizing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in Raw Data

Data protection in the world of evaluation is a must, especially when handling personally identifiable information (PII). Want to learn how to safeguard your data effectively? Discover the essential steps, including encryption and anonymization, to ensure your PII is shielded from unauthorized access, all while staying compliant with regulations.

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In defence of long reports.

It’s time to embrace long reports! This article confesses my love for lengthy reports. Why? Because they're more than just data – they're knowledge preservation. Long reports have a place in our world, serving multiple roles, from building capacity to promoting transparency. Learn more about the value of extensive reports in this article.

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Data Visualization Applications: Lollipop Charts - An Alternative to Bar Charts

While traditional bar charts are both straightforward and powerful for data representation, there are instances when we seek innovative alternatives to breathe new life into our reports. Enter the lollipop chart. Learn how to develop them in Excel here.

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Power Query for Data Preparation in Excel: An Introduction and Walk-Through for Beginners

Unlock the Potential of Power Query in Excel for Effortless Data Preparation! In this article, we demystify the art of transforming raw data into actionable insights. With step-by-step instructions and hands-on examples, you'll master the essential skills to save time, reduce errors, and supercharge your data analysis.

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Data Visualization Applications: Bar Charts

In this first instalment of our Data Visualization Applications series, we'll guide you through the art of transforming raw data into compelling visualizations. We kick things off by delving into the power and simplicity of the bar chart. By following these steps and best practices, you'll elevate your charts to ensure your data speaks clearly and convincingly. Stay tuned for more insights and techniques in our Data Visualization Applications series.

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New infographic: Data viz decision tree

Choosing the right type of chart to display your data can help to improve clarity among your readers and lessens the likelihood that your findings may be misinterpreted. With so many different types of charts and graphs, it can be tough to know where to start. This infographic is for anyone who wants to clearly display their quantitative data in a meaningful way but isn’t sure how to pick the best chart for the job.

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Creating a Qualitative Codebook

A codebook for qualitative research is a stand-alone document that contains a list of themes, codes, and definitions that you are using in your qualitative analysis. This article outlines the structure of a qualitative codebook as well as steps to follow to create your own.

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Questions to get you thinking about your data

Data are only useful when used! They do no good buried in reports, sitting on shelves (or shared drives) hidden away. Data, particularly data from an evaluation, are begging to be discussed, contemplated, and put into action! This article discusses some ways to make sure your data are used.

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What’s the Difference: Bias versus Confounding?

In every research and evaluation project, it is important to identify and address sources of error that may impact the accuracy of your findings and the relevance of your recommendations. Here, we will look at what bias and confounding are (and are not), the differences between them, and important considerations to take to prepare for and address both in your next evaluation project.

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New Infographic: Qualitative Data Saturation

Eval Academy just released a new infographic about qualitative data saturation. This infographic is for those who collect or who will be collecting qualitative data and are looking to support the validity of their results. It’s a helpful resource for those who are both new and experienced in evaluation!

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