Part 1 – Knowledge

The Knowledge Category

Our knowledge is the body of facts and information with which we are aware or familiar. It’s the first category of data literacy traits enumerated because our development starts with the knowledge that we obtain either through academic study or through practical experience.

Header image for the knowledge category, the first category of data literacy traits enumerated. The background is grey and the text is white. It reads in all caps “KNOWLEDGE.” Below that, in lowercase letters it reads “What does a data literate person know? A data literate person knows…”

What does a data literate person know? A data literate person knows, among other concepts…

  • Basic Elements of Data
  • Data Storage Methods
  • Data Analysis Principles
  • Data Visualization Rules of Thumb

Knowledge Category Quote

The following quote was provided to us for the Knowledge category of the ’17 Key Traits of Data Literacy ebook’ by Alberto Cairo, Knight Chair at the University of Miami and author of “How Charts Lie” (2019) and “The Truthful Art” (2016). Note Alberto’s emphasis on the intuitive and tentative nature of the knowledge we can acquire about data:

The companion quote for the knowledge category by Alberto Cairo, Knight Chair at the University of Miami (www.thefunctionalart.com). Background is grey, text is white. The quote is on the left and a photo of Alberto along with his title is on the right. The quote reads “Working with data requires a certain degree of numerical and graphical literacy, respectively called numeracy and graphicacy. Numeracy isn’t just mathematics, statistics, or logic, but a sixth sense that is grounded on a grasp -even a tenuous one- of fundamental concepts of those areas. Graphicacy, on the other hand, consists of developing intuitions of what kinds of graphs, charts or maps are more adequate to either explore our data or communicate the main insights we obtained from other people.”