Feminist Periscoping and Feminist Data Visualization: Strategies for Analyzing and Disseminating Messy Data

Abstract

In this article, we build on feminist geographical methodological innovations that link theories about data transparency and multiplicity with praxis, suggesting how feminist methods can better reflect the messiness of data. We argue that two interrelated strategies, feminist periscoping and feminist visualization, can highlight the strengths across messy data sets while also being transparent about the gaps within the data. We illustrate this argument using two examples from research into public information campaigns developed to dissuade unauthorized migration to the United States and Australia. Taken together, we argue, feminist periscoping and feminist visualization approaches are an effective way of analyzing and disseminating messy data.

我们研究了衔接数据透明性和多样性的理论与实践的女权主义地理学方法, 提出女权主义方法如何更好地反映数据的杂乱。我们认为, 女权主义“潜望”和女权主义可视化这两种相互关联的策略, 能突出杂乱数据集的优势并揭示数据的缺陷。通过两个旨在劝阻非法移民到美国和澳大利亚的公共信息运动, 我们阐释了这一观点。总之, 女权主义“潜望”和女权主义可视化是分析和分享杂乱数据的有效方法。

En este artículo, nos apoyamos en las innovaciones feministas de la metodología geográfica que vinculan las teorías sobre transparencia de los datos y la multiplicidad con la práctica, que sugieren cómo los métodos feministas pueden reflejar mejor el desorden de los datos. Argumentamos que dos estrategias interrelacionadas, la observación periscópica y la visualización feminista, pueden relievar las fortalezas de los conjuntos de datos desordenados y, al propio tiempo, ser transparentes sobre las lagunas dentro de los datos. Ilustramos este argumento mediante dos ejemplos de investigación en las campañas de información pública desarrolladas para disuadir la migración ilegal hacia Estados Unidos y Australia. Tomados en conjunto, argüimos, los enfoques de la observación periscópica feminista y la visualización feminista, son una forma eficaz para analizar y difundir datos desordenados.

关键词:

• 女权主义
• 杂乱数据
• 混合方法
• 潜望
• 可视化

Palabras clave:

• datos desordenados
• feminista
• métodos mixtos
• observación periscópica
• visualización

Key Words:

• feminist
• messy data
• mixed methods
• periscoping
• visualization

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the work of several research assistants, including Richard Johnson, Gaby Ramos, Natasha Rapp, Elisa Sperandio, Masen Webster, and Georgia Weiss-Elliot, who contributed to data collection and analysis on this project, as well as Meghan Kelly and Annita Lucchesi, who taught us a great deal about feminist visualization. Reviewers and editorial guidance from The Professional Geographer improved the organization and content of this piece. Finally, thank you as well to our families and child-care providers who gave us time and space to think and write. We contributed equally to this article and are collectively responsible for any errors or omissions.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kate Coddington

KATE CODDINGTON is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222. E-mail: [email protected]. She researches approaches to public policy dealing with migrants and postcolonial governance that influence processes of bordering and citizenship. Her current research involves exploring the role of public information campaigns in border enforcement, the gaps in refugee governance in the Asia-Pacific region, and the role of impoverishment and destitution in migration control policies.

Jill M. Williams

JILL M. WILLIAMS is an Associate Research Professor in the Southwest Institute for Research on Women at the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85719. E-mail: [email protected]. She is also Senior Research and Evaluation Associate at Acacia Center for Justice, Washington, DC. She uses feminist methodological and theoretical approaches to understand contemporary border enforcement policies and practices and the impacts they have on migrants and communities, with a geographic focus on the United States and U.S.–Mexico border region.