Abstract
What visual features characterize online migration data visualizations, and what do they suggest for the politics of representing migration and informing public attitudes? Audiences increasingly encounter quantitative information through visualization, especially in digital environments. Yet visualizations have political dimensions that manifest themselves through “conventions,” or shared symbols and practices conveying meaning. Using content analysis, I identify patterns of representation in a sample of 277 migration data visualizations scraped from Google Images. I find evidence of several conventions including appeals to objectivity and traceability as well as perspectives and units of analysis centered on states—particularly higher income migrant destinations. Then, by locating my analysis within the growing field of digital migration studies, I argue these conventions potentially shape public attitudes and understandings about migrants, and contribute to broader migration politics involving categorization and quantification that have relevance both on- and off-line.
Highlights
What visual features characterize online migration data visualizations, and what do they suggest for the politics of representing migration and informing public attitudes? Audiences increasingly encounter quantitative information through visualization, especially in digital environments
While the concept of visual conventions highlights the political significance of visual patterns in data visualization, it raises empirical questions about how prevalent they are among images that are available to audiences
Drawing upon prior semiotic work to develop my coding scheme and interpret the results, I demonstrate the extent to which key patterns existed within this set of images: a limited number of chart types; the prevalence of white backgrounds; supporting annotation indicating the underlying data sources; symbols and plots using the nation-state as the primary unit of analysis, and reporting statistics drawn from higher income migrant destination countries; and branding that, when present, typically referred to the media outlet that published the visualization
Summary
What visual features characterize online migration data visualizations, and what do they suggest for the politics of representing migration and informing public attitudes? Audiences increasingly encounter quantitative information through visualization, especially in digital environments. Drawing upon prior semiotic work to develop my coding scheme and interpret the results, I demonstrate the extent to which key patterns existed within this set of images: a limited number of chart types (mostly variations of bar and line graphs); the prevalence of white backgrounds; supporting annotation indicating the underlying data sources; symbols and plots using the nation-state as the primary unit of analysis, and reporting statistics drawn from higher income migrant destination countries; and branding that, when present, typically referred to the media outlet that published the visualization.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
