Interface and Information Design: Final Project: Data Sources

Making the Data Sets Comparable

In order to make both the government and household data sets comparable, I have:

Divided the annual government expenditure amounts by 52 to get a weekly amount.

Multiplied the household expenditure data sets by the number of taxpayers in Australia which is 11.8 million, according to the latest taxation statistics in order to make the data sets represent taxpayers as a whole - the same as the government expenditures.

Government Expenditure

Community Services and culture: $8679 million - $166 million/week

Health: $56 880 million - $1093 million

General Government services: $92 862 million - $1785 million/week

Industry and workforce: $14 727 million - $283 million/week

Education: $32 996 million - $634 million/week

Defence: $21 000 million - $403 million/week

Infrastructure, transport and energy: $12 539 million - $241 million/week

Social security and welfare: $114 961 million - $2210 million

Household Expenditure
Food and non-alcoholic beverages: $153/week - $1805.4 million/week

Housing Costs: $144/week - $1699.2 million/week

Transport: $139/week - $1640.2 million/week

Recreation: $115/week - $1357 million/week

Misc goods and services: $80/week - $944 million/week

Household services and operation: $55/week – 649 million/week

Household furnishing and equipment: $53/week - $625.4 million/week

Medical care and health expenses: $49/week – 578.2 million/week

Other:

Clothing and footwear: $35/week

Domestic fuel and power: $25/week

Alcoholic beverages: $25/week

Personal care: $20/week

Tobacco products: $15/week

Total: $120/week - $1416 million/week

The data sets are now both representative of taxpayers as a whole as weekly amounts and so can be accurately compared on the one scale. I wanted to make the two data sets comparable so users can compare different categories visually on the one scale and interface, in order to make it easier for them to comprehend and understand the data.

Posted: 22/05/11

Quantifying Data Sets

I am having a really difficult time trying to organise, connect and quantify both the government spending types and the household spending types in order to compare them effectively on a scale. The government spending types are such large yearly amount - into the tens of millions - whereas the household spending types are only small weekly amounts. I have tried to multiply the weekly household expenditures by 52 to make them per year, however this still does not make them large enough to compare, and the amounts are still per household - whereas the government spending types have grouped taxpayers as a whole.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics gives me the most recent update of the population of Australia:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/94713ad445ff1425ca25682000192af2/1647509ef7e25faaca2568a900154b63?OpenDocument

I could possibly use this to divide the government expenditures down to "per household".

The ABS gives me a projection that in 2011 the average household is around 2.4 people.

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/0/916F96F929978825CA25773700169C65?opendocument

But I am not sure if this is too unreliable and more of a "guesstimation"than real data. I need to come up with a solution to this problem so the data can be compared accurately.

Posted: 14/05/11

Researching Data Sets

I have been doing research into the different areas of Australian expenditure, and trying to single the data down to specific fields that I can use for my infographic. I am finding it a bit difficult to cull the information down and find relevant links between them so it is easier to display the information in a way that the user can compare the data sets.

I think I will use the following data sets to compare australian expenditure:

social security and welfare
community services and culture
health
general government services
industry and workforce
education
defence
infrastructure, transport and energy

I can then compare these data sets with other expenditure areas such as household expenditure on goods and services (particularly fast food), advertising, tourism, immigration and horticulture.

The following websites have been good sources of information:

Australian Bureau of Statistics: Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, Dec 2010

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/5206.0Main%20Features5Dec%202010?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=5206.0&issue=Dec%202010&num=&view=

Budget Measures 2010-11:

http://www.aph.gov.au/budget/2010-11/content/bp2/html/index.htm

Expense Measures: http://www.aph.gov.au/budget/2010-11/content/bp2/html/bp2_expense-01.htm

Pie Chart: http://www.aph.gov.au/budget/2010-11/content/overview/html/overview_37.htm

Total expenses for 2010‑11 are expected to be $354.6 billion, an increase of 2.8 per cent on estimated expenses since the Mid‑Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2009‑10.

Australian Budget Aggregates

http://www.aph.gov.au/budget/2010-11/content/overview/html/overview_31.htm