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Density destiny

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Thu, 11/13/2008 - 09:06 — IanK

VOA funding project: Data Variable Density

The lesson in my previously posted population-sensitive election map brings many variables into the computation and expresses this data complexity well. Though the map loses much automatic readability when the outline of the continental U.S. transforms, the design corrects a routine misrepresentation.

It is a “distortion,” but a welcome one. I admire the data density offered by the map. Relative to the success in correcting poor, widely-used election map, the distortion is forgivable . . . a necessary fiction to get at another truth. Also, the map does not take extensive training to decipher, despite the unrecognizable coastlines.

Bringing this density to an analysis of VOA funding data is my aim in this post. Other factors that would bring weight to the visualization of targeted regions in the projection of American messages:

1.    population density
2.    country’s seated power political orientation
3.    economic conditions
4.    number of socialist groups or perceived threat from socialist forces
5.    degree of investment in region by U.S. firms
6.    investment of U.S. commercial broadcasters specifically

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Thu, 11/13/2008 - 14:41 — IanK
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Continued VOA project outline

What do these observations contribute to the VOA project?

The use of a world map implies that the political boundaries and geography are central to understanding the data. They are not. Disroting the actural shape of countries and even continental form would not diminish an analysis of VOA funding distribution. There is an implied comparison when familiar lines are corrupted. The corruption is the information. Why is Russia so small in this image that has resized the country according to data other than mere land area? This implicit question is contrasting the expected with the unfamiliar to point out something new.

De Smith, et al, bring up "spacial context" as a key term in geospatial analysis. It also complicates my VOA research visualization. I will have to consider spacial context in judging the degree of investment VOA directors afford a given region. Certianly the neighborhood influences funding decisions, most notably in the Russian sphere of influence. The single data set of "funding afforded x region" ignores the spatial context and the political reality of radio influence. Such "convolution"

Might VOA funding reflect the sense of security U.S. officials sense? It seems like raw data (and its visualization) cannot answer many of the questions I am ansking with this project. Detailed analysis of congressional records would give additional "context" to the decision making apparatus I hope to shed light on in rendering this data to be visually consumed.

How to successfully design the research to point out something new about the war of radio waves in the Post-WWII era? Disrupting the simplistic U.S. vs. U.S.S.R. ideological struggle narrative is important. If nothign else, I'd like to highlight that which is obscured by this template understanding of the VOA. One way to unsettle the common wisdom of cold war political explantions lies in viewing the VOA as an expression of the desires of American commerce more so than governmental ideology. There is much overlap here, but the patterns of funding may offer some insight into the on the ground rationale for putting money in certain spots.