Do you communicate data and information to stakeholders?

This issue is Part 1 of a two-part series on data visualization and evaluation. In Part 1, we introduce recent developments in the quantitative and qualitative data visualization field and provide a historical perspective on data visualization, its potential role in evaluation practice, and future directions. It discusses:

• Quantitative visualization methods such as tree maps
• Sparklines
• Web-based interactive visualization
• Different types of qualitative data visualizations, along
  with examples in various evaluation contexts
• A toolography describing additional data visualization tools
  and software, along with their major strengths and limitations.

Intended as a guidance for understanding and designing data visualizations, this issue introduces fundamental concepts and links them to daily practice.

This is the 139^th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Evaluation, an official publication of the American Evaluation Association.