Final Project

Introduction

For my final project, I chose the U.S. Department of Education scenario in which a map of the 2014 SAT scores and participation rate for each state would be created for the purpose of submitting to the Washington Post alongside an article on high school seniors and college entrance scores. I chose this option because I was curious about what regions of the U.S. were more likely to take the SAT, considering I grew up in the Central U.S. and the ACT was encouraged more than the SAT. My objectives going into the project were to: create my own tabular data, convert that data into something visibly tangible (i.e. shapefile), determine how to display each dataset thematically, choose an appropriate projection, determine how to classify the datasets, create appropriate labels, utilize inset maps, and determine how to present the most of my data without cluttering my map.

Thematic Methods

For my thematic map I chose a choropleth theme for SAT scores and graduated symbols for participation rates. I got a lot of my inspiration by looking at other standardized test score maps online, while searching for a common theme among them. The majority of them had in common the usage of graduated colors. Furthermore, the majority used a monochromatic color ramp, contrasting light and darker hues of the same color. I followed the same path and chose a blue light to dark color ramp. I chose graduated symbols because it allowed me to produce a range of symbol sizes and values close to the values on the sheet of data we were provided.

Data Classification Methods

For the SAT score data, I used graduated colors with a quantile classification of 5 classes. I used this method because most of the data was not of identical values and could be easily rank-ordered. I chose 5 classes so the viewer could easily observe the map in 20 percent fractions. I was conflicted on whether or not to include the SAT score ranges, as the College Board “strongly discourages the ranking of scores between states”. Every map I came across for my inspiration only indicated ‘high’ and ‘low’ as score ranges. However, this map was created in mind with the intention to display information, and with the quantile method I could leave out the numbers and indicate ‘high’ and ‘low’ in case concerns of state comparisons were holding back publication.  I used graduated symbols for the participation rates because it gave me more control over how to group the percentages through symbol size.

Design

 I wanted to achieve contrast, yet the map be easy on the eyes to decipher and follow. I also wanted it to be simplistic and easy to understand, considering it would reach a wide audience. I stuck with a theme of varying shades of blue with white borderlines, and labels colored appropriately to the hue. Label sizes vary with state size. ArcMap was used to produce the bare bones and data of the map, I carried out the rest of the design, typography, and neat lines in AI, where I would have better font, border, and artistic capabilities.