Monday, 24 November 2014
Data Update 3
2) I asked some people I know who live in Vancouver about missed garbage pick-ups. I won't be using these since I'm changing my topic but these were the best three quotes I got:
"16,000 [complaints] still seems like a lot."
"No one wants to walk outside and see piles of garbage in front of their house."
"It's cramped where I live so one miss and it's like, where do I put this?"
3) One question I cannot answer with the data is the number of garbage trucks being used by the city and number of employees working at the waste disposal plants. This might explain why the number of missed garbage complaints have gone down. Their also might be a way to see if government spending on waste management services has increased. I might be able to find a government budget plan detailing sanitation spending on the City of Vancouver data portal. I could also check the City of Vancouver data portal for the number of employees hired between 2013 and 2014, but the number of extra trucks put into service would most likely not be listed. If I wanted to learn the number of extra trucks put in service I could probably just ask the waste management company for the data. If they refuse I could put forth an FOI request but I doubt that would be necessary.
*Note* I didn't expect incidents of missed garbage pick-ups to be going down so drastically so I'm changing my story to the success of the 3-1-1 information line and how it is becoming increasingly popular. I know it's a little late to change stories but I already have most of the data already cleaned from what I used for the garbage story but I didn't have time to do another Data Update. I just need to sort it differently.
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Yeah... It pretty much ruins your story about the rise in garbage pick-up complaints when the number of complaints is going down. However, this is definitely an example of how graphing the data is the best way in which to analyze it and then chose the story. Also, I think you need to talk to people other than just "people you know who live in Vancouver." Maybe try and find someone who has a lot of garbage, like a large household, and how important garbage pick-up is... I don't know, your changing your story, so good luck.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested to know why the missed pickups dropped so severely in early 2013, then went right back up. But seeing as you aren't doing this story, guess I'll never know.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you check the formatting on your graph, some of the months on this one don't show up unless you hover over them, so it looks like its missing some months. It's just an asthetic thing, but it would help to reformat the axis.
I hope you have more luck with your new story. Good luck!
I like the change in topic -- it's a good spin on the story. Some of the months on the graphic are missing, unless you hover over them; I'm thinking a loading error? Other than that, the graphic is really clear!
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a cool topic, and definitely very relevant. I liked that your graph was super clear and that your quotes were well chosen to depict the idea behind your story. The topic change definitely worked in your favour.
Hi Chris. I like the look of your graph. I’m very curious to find out why there are fewer complaints this year. Hopefully you can find some kind of expert to give you interesting quotes for the final article.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the most interesting stories, it is your line graph really completes it to show how drastic the levels between the garbage that is picked up and the one that isn't. The good thing is that they seem to be less complaints, hopefully this gets fully resolved.
ReplyDelete