Blog Post #8

           This week we were directed to talk more about Dr. Ferster’s book Interactive Visualization: Insight Through Inquiry specifically looking at the “ASSERT Model” as well as, further discuss out final projects for this class. Since I did not talk about the “ASSERT Model” in last weeks post I also believe it would be important to do so. The “ASSERT Model” according to Ferster was created to support creative visual projects to build on research (Ferster, 38-40). The first portion of the “ASSERT Model” which is shown in figure 1.29 on page 39 in the book is “Ask a Question” (Ferster, 39). Last week I mentioned what my research topic and historical questions are, so you may refer back to that blog post if you would like for reference which will tie into the first portion of the “ASSERT Model”. Like I mentioned previously, I am working in conjunction with and being advised by my professor, who is also the researcher. He has aided me in identifying the questions to focus my project around. I was interested in assisting my professor with his research for a number of reasons. The primary reason is that there are similarities to my own thesis research in the sense that he and my final project for this class will be looking at crime, punishment, and race in Seminole County, Florida. My thesis research will be looking at crime, punishment, and race in Sanford, Florida; which happens to fall within the Seminole County lines. The other main reason I choose to help Dr. French with his research instead of working on my own for this final is because the “Seminole County Jail Records” are already transcribed on a spread sheet. Where as, I have not had a chance to transcribe any of the “Sanford Municipal Court and Jail Dockets” information yet for my thesis. That being said, Dr. French said it would also give me a chance to look at a different set of data and see how they compare to what I will be using in my own personal research. Lastly, I choose to focus on the 1930’s because that is when the big shift in the “Sanford Municipal Court and Police Dockets” occurred. The shift I am referring to, is prior to 1930, there was very little information about the individuals being arrested and in 1930 the information in these dockets became so much more in depth including, skin color, hair color, eye color, profession, etc. I am interested to find out if there is a similar occurrence in Seminole County as a whole.
            The second and third portions of the “ASSERT Model” are already completed. They are “Search for Information” and “Structure the Data” (Ferster, 39). I have already picked the topic I will be doing the final project on and have obtained the needed information and spread sheets from my professor. Due to the fact that the data I will be using in the final project has already been transcribed into a spread sheet I do not need to structure it in excel. However, I will likely need to go through and structure the data that I will be using within the Visualization tool I will be using, Tableau. The fourth portion of the “ASSERT Model” is “Envision the Answer” (Ferster, 39). At this point, I am still not quite sure what the answer might be to the historical question.  The fifth section of the “ASSERT Model” is “Represent the Visualization” (Ferster, 39). I will be representing the data using Tableau and I am hoping to try to find a Seminole County map from 1930 to show the visualization and using little bubbles to show location. My goal through this visualization is to tell a story and to help educate people about crime, punishment, and race in Florida through out these projects, and this will link to the last part of the “ASSERT Model”  which is “Tell a Story” (Ferster, 39).


Ferster, Bill. Interactive Visualization: Insight Through Inquiry. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2013.

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