Peer Review

Mapping Poverty in America

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Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: A New York Times visualization of the distribution of officially-defined poverty in the U.S. from the American Community Survey (2008–2012). This interactive map allows users to see poverty rate (percent in poverty) and numbers (number in poverty) for each county and census tract.
Type of Material:: Collection and interactive demonstration.
Recommended Uses:: In class as part of lecture or discussion about economic inequality. Could also be used to develop homework assignment.
Technical Requirements:: HTML works well in IE and Firefox. A high-speed Internet connection is necessary.
Identify Major Learning Goals:: Interactive mapping visualization allows for graphic description of officially-defined poverty at county level down to census tract.
Target Student Population:: High school and college students.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Requires basic background about how poverty is measured.

Rating:
Strengths:: Provides graphic interactive view of poverty by U.S. place. Poverty can be viewed at either the county or census-tract levels. Provides color-shaded differences to allow visual comparisons across place. Provides poverty data in terms of percent under the poverty line and absolute number of poor.
Concerns:: Data presented are limited to poverty distribution. Would be more powerful if other social indicators (e.g., race/ethnicity and median age) were as well included.

Rating:
Strengths:: Highly useful for demonstrating extent and location of poverty. Would be easy to write a homework assignment involving use of material.
Concerns:: Would have to be supplemented by treatment about how poverty is conceptualized and measured by government, and how cost of living in given places might affect interpretations of real need.

Rating:
Strengths:: Visually appealing and easy to use.
Concerns:: Does not include explicit instructions on how to navigate within interactive map, but is relatively easy to figure out.

Other Issues and Comments:: Good mapped visualization of poverty in the U.S. Allows for visual comparisons of poverty from one area to another in light of color shading. Inclusion of treatment about how poverty is measured and how cost-of-living differences are relevant would enhance informational value. Also would be helped by including navigation instructions.
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