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Tableau lab

Tableau Visualization Exercise

Goal

Use Tableau to create one clear visualization from a comics-related dataset.

Context

This dataset comes from the Cooper Comics Collection, a collecting project shaped by personal fascination, memory, and reconstruction. As you work, think not only about what the data shows, but also about what kind of collecting or fandom practice produced it.

Data

Cooper Comics Collection data

Instructions

1. Download the Cooper Comics Collection data if you have not already done so.
2. Open Tableau and connect the Excel file.
3. Choose one sheet or set of data to work with.
4. Identify one question you want to explore. You are encouraged to use the same question you explored in Excel so that you can compare how the two tools handle the same data.
5. Create one visualization that helps answer that question.
6. Adjust the title, labels, sorting, and layout so the visualization is easy to read.
7. Write 2–3 sentences answering:
   • What question were you asking?
   • What does the visualization show?
   • How does Tableau handle this question similarly to or differently from Excel?

Possible questions

You may continue the same question you explored in Excel, especially if you want to compare the two tools.

Or you might explore a question such as:

• Which publishers, titles, or genres appear most often in this dataset?
• How are story genres distributed across different books?
• Which books include the widest range of story genres?
• Are some genres concentrated in particular titles or publishers?
• What patterns become easier to see in Tableau than they were in Excel?

Notes

• Keep the visualization straightforward.
• The goal is to practice using Tableau and thinking critically about visualization choices.
• Using the same question as in Excel is encouraged, since it lets you compare the strengths and limitations of the two tools.
• If you finish early, try making a second version of the same data using a different chart type and compare the results.