Unit 4 Assignment: Time Series
In this assignment, you will perform a time series analysis in Tableau. You will choose a dataset to analyze based on the requirements provided. Once you select your time series, you will build a forecast to predict future trends. Next, you will tell a story using the story feature in Tableau. You will record a video presentation outlining your findings. Finally, you write a one-paragraph summary. Provide the link to your video and the one-page paragraph to your faculty. Submit the link in your Unit 4 Assignment submission folder. You will be graded according to the rubric. You will also share this link with your classmates for the discussion in the next unit. You will view other classmates’ videos and provide feedback in a discussion in the next unit.
The steps in this assignment will be:
- Choose a time series data set from the provided links that fit the
- Make your forecast to predict future trends using
- Create your story in
- Create and record your video 5) Write a one-paragraph summary.
Choose your Time Series
A time series is a series of data benchmarked to a particular point in time; for example, the closing price of the stock of XYZ Corporation on December 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 would comprise a time series of five data points.
Your time series should have the following characteristics:
- It must span at least ten to twenty roughly equivalent time A period may be a day, a week, a year, or some other unit of measure that makes sense for what you are measuring.
- It needs to leave room for you to make a prediction for some time period in the future based on the available data in your time series. For example, if you choose the years 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, and 1914 to measure cigarette smoking behavior in Americans, your future prediction must be after this So, you would predict behavior for next year over a data gap that spans almost 100 years. A more sensible choice of years for this would be 1930, 1950, 1970, 1990, and 2010, which leaves you plenty of room to predict for 2030.
- It needs to have at least three other variables for your These must have occurred in the same time frames but might be from different sources. In the example below, our main time series is the stock’s closing price, and the three additional variables were from other data sources.
| Year |
Stock closing price |
Variable 1 – number of
employees |
Variable 2 – annual rainfall |
Variable 3 – number of
patents granted |
| 1 |
$10 |
50 |
5 “ |
0 |
| 2 |
$15 |
100 |
7 “ |
0 |
| 3 |
$13 |
150 |
5.5″ |
10 |
| 4 |
$21 |
103 |
8″ |
11 |
| 5 |
$25 |
115 |
5″ |
15 |
We have provided a link to potential data sources for this assignment in the classroom.
Make Your Forecast
- Review the learning resources in the classroom on time series and
- Review Milligan Chapter 9 section on
- Use the default forecast estimates in Tableau – don’t try setting any options You are welcome to use whatever forecast (linear, log, exponential, seasonal) feels right to you for your data set. Note the forecast type in your presentation – i.e., “I used a linear trendline…”
- Ensure to include confidence intervals (the little funnel-looking things out to the ) They are called ‘estimates’ in the forecasting methods video.
- Only use Tableau: do not use Excel, R, Python, or any other software to
- State your confidence in the It’s perfectly acceptable to state, “Tableau is forecasting a value of 100 for July. I have low confidence in this forecast because {state your reasons here.}”
Create your Story
Determine what the story in your data is. A good story has
- A narrative with a research question at the beginning and a conclusion at the Examples of good narratives include, “Is the US crime rate really increasing?” or “What is happening to the crab population in Maryland?”
- Each graphic will support some aspect of your
- Each aspect of the story will be one brief caption or This will go on the top of your Story Point for your presentation.
- A good test of your narrative is to see if you can give it to somebody not taking this Do they understand what you are claiming?
Key points to consider as you craft your story:
- Background of the data set – what motivated you to study this?
- Description of the time series and trends you see
- Any interactions or explanations from background factors? For example, if you are doing CO2 emissions, can you include average global temperatures to support or debunk global warming?
- Use annotations to elaborate on your (Milligan Chapter 7) Create your Presentation
- Using your research, create a visually appealing Tableau story presentation outlining your
- Read the learning resources provided on creating a story
in
Make sure to include at least three (3) time series A time series graph has the time (such as years) on the x-axis and the data you are graphing (such as world population) on the y-axis.
Read; ITMG381: Cyberlaw and Privacy in a Digital Age
Usually, these are line charts. Review the learning resources to find the best ways to display the data.
- Include up to five graphs from Tableau best representing the research I will view Graphs 1 through 5, and Graph #6 will not be read or graded. You may have more than five slides (for example, your introduction and bibliographic references). Just no more than five graphs.
- Each graph should have a reference number – for example, “Figure 1: {what you want to say about Figure 1}.”
- If you include three (3) time series graphs, that leaves room for two other graphs (say, a pie chart and a bar chart.) That’s a total of five graphs.
- Duration is up to 5 minutes (I will stop watching after 5 minutes.)
- This video needs to be a screen capture of yourself talking to us through your Story Points presentation. You can use any screen capture software you like. We provided links to potential software in the classroom. Be sure to use a microphone for good audio quality. (If you use a free trial, it’s fine if the free trial notation appears on your screen.)
- This video should NOT be o A PowerPoint
- A hand-held video of your computer screen, shot using your phone o
Anything shot using the webcam of your computer
- Your presentation should start with an introduction, which should contain o Your name
- The presentation titles o This class name and number and section (for example, “DATA 625 9040, Fall 2024”) o Your professor’s name and the institution name (for example, “Professor Carrie Beam, UMGC.”)
- You can do this introduction using a separate slide you make through your video production software. You can also do this using one large text box within a Tableau slide.
- Your presentation should end with a references page, which should contain o A citation to the source of your data (with the web link if applicable).
Write a One-paragraph Summary
- Write a one-paragraph (250 words or fewer) summary of your
- It needs to be an Executive Summary: if a busy reader only reads the first sentence, s/he should know your results. Don’t say, “We analyze trends of Beanie Baby purchases.” Say instead, “Beanie Baby purchases are trending upwards sharply, and we forecast sales of XXX for next quarter.”
- The best summaries contain a Why should the reader continue to read the paragraph? After reading the paragraph, why should the reader want to view your video?
Share your Video
- Upload your video to YouTube or create a public link through your screen capture Make sure it is set so the link will work for your classmates and for me.
- You will share this presentation with your classmates and publicly because you will be posting it on YouTube. This can be excellent job exposure; several previous students have linked their LinkedIn accounts to their presentations as an online resume.
- You will also be commenting on some of your classmates’
Submit your Deliverables
- You have two deliverables for this assignment (your one-paragraph summary and your video). You will submit both deliverables in two places.
- First, submit both your one-paragraph summary writeup and the link to your video to the Assignments Folder under Unit 4 Assignment.
- When you submit your one-paragraph writeup, paste its text into the submission Do not attach a Word or .pdf document that we need to click on to open before we can read it.
Unit 5 Discussion
- In the Unit 5 Discussion, submit your one-paragraph summary writeup and the link to your video to our class Discussion Forum for this assignment.
- When you have submitted your video, review two presentations from Do try to spread your feedback around a bit; if somebody already has two reviews, try to review a presentation which doesn’t have much feedback yet.
Unit 4 Assignment Directions: Time Series
In this assignment, you will perform a time series analysis in Tableau.
- Choose a dataset to analyze based on the requirements provided.
- Once you’ve selected your time series, build a forecast to predict future trends.
- Next, tell a story using the story feature in Tableau.
- Record a video presentation outlining your findings.
- Finally, write a one-paragraph summary.
- Provide links to your video and the one-page paragraph to your faculty.
- Submit the link in your Unit 4 Assignment submission folder.
- You will be graded according to the rubric.
- You will also share this link with your fellow students during the discussion in the next unit.
- You will view other fellow students’ videos and provide feedback in the discussion in the next unit.
Assignment Instructions: Unit 4 Assignment: Time Series
Help with assignment: Ideas for finding potential data sets for Unit 4 Assignment
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